She struggled in school because she was unable to read until age 14 due to dyslexia; she found relief by expressing herself through art. Polacco endured teasing and hid her disability until a school teacher recognized that she could not read and began to help her. Her book Thank You, Mr. Falker is Polacco's retelling of this encounter and its outcome. She also wrote such books as Mr. Lincoln's Way and The Lemonade Club.
Patricia polacco
Early years
She is of Russian and Ukrainian-Jewish descent on her mother's side and of Irish on her father's side.
She was born in 1944, the daughter of a teacher and a salesman turned talk show host. Her parents divorced when she was three years old. She, her mother, and her brother went to live at her paternal grandmother's farm in Union City MI, the setting of many of her stories. After her grandmother's death, the family moved to Coral Gables, Florida, and then three years later to Oakland, California. She and her brother spent their early life living in two places: school years with their mother in Oakland, California, and summers with their father and his parents in Michigan. Polacco was discouraged in school and did not learn to read until she was nearly fourteen. In junior high school, one of her teachers finally discovered that dyslexia was the reason for her lack of confidence. Although her grandmother died in 1949, when Polacco was only five years old, she appears in several of Polacco's books.
At Oakland Technical High School, Polacco became friends with Frank Oz. She wrote When Lightning Comes in a Jar as a tribute to her grandmother (referred to as "Babushka" in her books), and a cousin.She did not start writing and illustrating her first children's book until she was 41 years old. She resides in her native Union City, Michigan, although not on her family home, but on a different property which she purchased, which was originally known as "The Plantation".
Marriages
Polacco has married twice. She had two children, Traci and Steven, with her first husband. The marriage ended in a divorce. Her second husband, Enzo Mario Polacco (m. August 18, 1979), is a chef and cooking instructor.
Books
Boat Ride with Lillian Two Blossom (1988) ISBN 0-399-21470-4
Aunt Chip And The Great Triple Creek Dam Affair (1996) ISBN 0-399-22943-4
I Can Hear The Sun: A Modern Myth (1996) ISBN 0-399-22520-X
The Trees of the Dancing Goats (1996) ISBN 0-689-80862-3
Casey at the Bat: A Ballad of the Republic Sung in the Year 1888 (1997) ISBN 0-698-11557-0; Author: Ernest Lawrence Thayer, Illustrator: Patricia Polacco
In Enzo's Splendid Gardens (1997) ISBN 0-399-23107-2
Mrs. Mack (1998) ISBN 0-399-23167-6
Thank You, Mr. Falker (1998) ISBN 0-399-23166-8
Luba And The Wren (1999) ISBN 0-399-23168-4
Welcome Comfort (1999) ISBN 0-399-23169-2
The Butterfly (2000) ISBN 0-399-23170-6
Betty Doll (2001) ISBN 0-399-23638-4
Gracias, Sr. Falker (2001) ISBN 1-930332-03-3, with Teresa Mlawer
Mr. Lincoln's Way (2001) ISBN 0-399-23754-2
Christmas Tapestry (2002) ISBN 0-399-23955-3
When Lightning Comes In A Jar (2002) ISBN 0-399-23164-1
G is for Goat (2003) ISBN 0-399-24018-7
The Graves Family (2003) ISBN 0-399-24034-9
John Philip Duck (2004) ISBN 0-399-24262-7
Oh, Look! (2004) ISBN 0-399-24223-6
An Orange for Frankie (2004) ISBN 0-399-24302-X
Emma Kate (2005) ISBN 0-399-24452-2
The Graves Family Goes Camping (2005) ISBN 0-399-24369-0
Mommies Say Shhh (2005) ISBN 0-399-24341-0
Rotten Richie and the Ultimate Dare (2006) ISBN 0-399-24531-6
Ginger and Petunia (2006) ISBN 9780399245398
The Lemonade Club (2007) ISBN 9780399245404
For the Love of Autumn (2008) ISBN 9780399245411
Someone for Mr. Sussman (2008) ISBN 9780399250750
In Our Mothers' House (2009) ISBN 0-399-25076-X
January's Sparrow (2009) ISBN 978-0-399-25077-4
Junkyard Wonders (2010) ISBN 0-399-25078-6
Something About Hensley's (2006) ISBN 0-399-24538-3
Just in Time, Abraham Lincoln (2011) ISBN 9780399254710
Bun Bun Button (2011) ISBN 9780399254727
The Art of Miss Chew (2012) ISBN 9780399257032
Bully (2012) ISBN 9780399257049
Gifts of the Heart (2013) ISBN 9780399160943
The Blessing Cup (2013) ISBN 1442450479
Clara and Davie (2014) ISBN 9780545354776
Mr. Wayne's Masterpiece (2014) ISBN 9780399160950
Tucky Jo and Little Heart (2015) ISBN 9781481415842
An A From Miss Keller (2015) ISBN 9780399166914
Fiona's Lace (2014) ISBN 9781442487246
The Mermaid's Purse (2016) ISBN 9780399166921
Because of Thursday (2016) ISBN 9781481421409
Other media
Aunt Chip and the Great Triple Creek Dam Affair. Video, Color, 23 minutes (New Rochelle, NY: Spoken Arts, 1996)
Babushka's Doll. Audio Cassette (New York: Scholastic, 1995)
The Butterfly. Audio Cassette (New Rochelle, NY: Spoken Arts, 1996)
The Butterfly. Video, Color, 30 minutes (New Rochelle, NY: Spoken Arts, 1996)
Chicken Sunday. Audio Cassette (New Rochelle, NY: Spoken Arts, 1992)
1992 Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators
Golden Kite Award for Illustration for Chicken Sunday
1992 Boston Area Educators for Social Responsibility
Children’s Literature and Social Responsibility Award
Nov. 9th 1993 Jane Adams Peace Assoc. and Women’s Intl. League for Peace and Freedom Awards
Honor Award for Mrs. Katz and Tush for its effective contribution to peace and social justice.
Parent’s Choice Honors
1991 Some Birthday1997 Video/Dream Keeper1998 Thank You, Mr. Falker
1996 North Dakota Library Association Children’s Book Award for My Rotten Red Headed Older Brother
1996 Jo Osborne Award for Humor in Children’s Literature
1997 Missouri Association of School Librarians
Show Me Readers Award for My Rotten Red Headed Older Brother
1997 West Virginia Children’s Book Award for Pink and Say
1998 Mid-South Independent Booksellers for Children Humpty Dumpty Award
2014 Sydney Taylor Book Award for The Blessing Cup
Articles written about Polacco
Vandergrift, Kay E. "Peacocks, Dreams, Quilts, and Honey: Patricia Polacco, A Woman's Voice of Remembrance," In Ways of Knowing: Literature and the Intellectual Life of Children. Ed. By Kay E. Vandergrift. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 1996, pp. 259–288.
Vandergrift, Kay E. "Patricia Polacco," in Twentieth-Century Children's Writers. ed. by Laura Berger. 4th ed. Detroit: St. James, 1995. 759–760.
Profile, childrenslit.com; accessed on July 8, 2015.
Interview, TimeforKids.com; accessed on July 8, 2015.
