J. Patrick Lewis is the 16th winner of the NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children. NCTE established the Poetry Award in 1977 to honor a living American poet for his or her aggregate work for children ages 3–13. NCTE also recognizes and fosters excellence in children's poetry by encouraging its publication and by exploring ways to acquaint teachers and children with poetry through such means as publications, programs, and displays.
An American poet and prose writer noted for his children's poems and other light verse, J. Patrick Lewis earned his PhD in economics at The Ohio State University in 1974. He taught at Otterbein College in Westerville, Ohio, until 1998 when he became a full-time writer. Lewis has published extensively in the field of Economics with articles and reviews appearing in numerous academic journals.
In addition to writing and publishing short stories and poems, Lewis has published over 65 children’s books and has won many awards for these books. In 1991 he was awarded an Ohio Arts Council Individual Artist Grant for his adult poetry.
Lewis loves sharing his stories, poetry, and humor and each year visits many elementary schools, keynotes at literature conferences, and presents teachers’ workshops on introducing poetry in the classroom. His poems run the gamut from silly to serious, from free verse to form, from nonfiction to nonsense.
J. Patrick Lewis will be honored at the Books for Children Luncheon and at a poetry session during the NCTE Annual Convention in Chicago, Illinois this November.
To learn more about J.Patrick, visit www.jpatricklewis.com.
Selected Titles Include:
2010
- Gulls Hold Up the Sky. LaJolla, CA: Laughing Fire Press (adult poems).
- Kindergarten Cat. New York, NY: Schwartz & Wade/Random House.
- The Fantastic 5&10 Cent Store. New York, NY: Schwartz & Wade/Random House.
- Skywriting: Poems in Flight. Mankato, MN: Creative Editions.
- First Dog's White House Christmas. Chelsea, MI: Sleeping Bear Press.
2009
- The House. Mankato, MN: Creative Editions.
- Spot the Plot! A Riddle Book of Book Riddles. San Francisco: Chronicle Books.
- First Dog. (With Beth Zappitello), Chelsea, MI: Sleeping Bear Press.
- Countdown to Summer: A Poem for Every Day of the School Year. New York: Little, Brown.
- The Underwear Salesman; and Other Odd-Job Verses. New York: Simon & Schuster.
2008
- Birds on a Wire: A Renga 'Round the Town. (With Paul B. Janeczko), Boyds Mills Press/Wordsong.
- The World's Greatest: Poems. San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books.
2007
- The Brothers' War: Civil War Voices in Verse. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic.
- Tulip at the Bat. Boston: Little, Brown.
- Big Is Big and Little Little: A Book of Contrasts. New York: Holiday House.
- Michelangelo’s World. Mankato, MN: Creative Editions.
- Poems for Teaching in the Content Areas: Math, Science, History and Geography. New York: Scholastic Teaching Resources.
- Under the Kissletoe. Honesdale, PA: Boyd Mills Press/Wordsong.
2006
- Once Upon a Tomb: Gravely Humorous Verses. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick.
- Blackbeard the Pirate King. Washington, DC: National Geographic.
- Black Cat Bone: A Live of Blues Legend Robert Johnson in Verse. Mankato, MN: Creative Editions.
- Good Mornin', Ms. America: The U.S.A. in Verse. School Specialty Publishing.
- Castles: Old Stone Poems. (With Rebecca Kai Dotlich), Honesdale, PA: Boyds Mills Press/Wordsong.
- Wing Nuts: Screwy Haiku. (With Paul B. Janeczko), Boston: Little, Brown.