Barbara Bottner facts for kids

Barbara Bottner is an amazing American author and artist. She has written over fifty books for kids of all ages! She's also an award-winning teacher who helps others learn to write for children. Besides books, she's written funny TV shows, movie scripts, and even songs for the Muppets!

Barbara Bottner's Journey

Barbara Bottner started her creative journey as a painter. She even designed sets for plays! This led her to acting. She worked with famous people like Sam Shepard in a theater group called Theater Genesis. She also toured Europe and performed in New York City with another group, La Mama Plexus.

Later, Barbara found her passion in writing and illustrating books for children. She also made short films for popular kids' shows. These include award-winning shorts for Sesame Street and the Electric Company. She even wrote lyrics for Jim Henson's Fair is Fair album, which featured the beloved Muppets.

Books for Young Readers

Barbara Bottner has written more than 50 books for children. Her books cover many different age groups. She writes for young adults (YA), middle schoolers, and even early readers. She is especially known for her award-winning picture books. Some of her stories have even been turned into animated shows or plays!

One of her popular books, Miss Brooks Loves Books, became a New York Times best-seller. Her books have won many awards and appeared on "Best Of" lists. Kids themselves have given her books special awards!

Writing for TV and Magazines

Barbara Bottner loves writing for young people. She wrote for "After School Specials" with Arlene Sidaris. She was also a writer for the primetime CBS comedy show Scorch.

Her writing talent also led her to work on popular animated series. She wrote for Disney's Winnie the Pooh series. She also wrote for Showtime's Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle series. Barbara Bottner and Arlene Sidaris also wrote a book called Mama Said.

Beyond books and TV, Barbara Bottner has written for magazines. She wrote features for the Miami Herald's Tropic Magazine. She also wrote funny articles for LA Weekly. Her artwork has even appeared in the New York Times and MS. Magazine. She has reviewed children's books for the New York Times Sunday Book Review. Her short stories have been published in Cosmopolitan and other collections.

Teaching and Inspiring Others

Barbara Bottner is also a respected teacher. She won a special award for her teaching from the New School for Social Research, Parsons School of Design. She has taught at UCLA and Miami Dade College.

She has given talks across the United States about children's literature. She also presented at the Bologna Children's Book Fair, a big international event for children's books. Her writings and papers are kept in a special collection at the Arne Nixon Centre for Children's Literature at Fresno State.

Barbara Bottner has helped with many conferences. She has also judged national writing contests for children's literature. She continued to teach classes on writing for children as late as 1990, sharing her knowledge with new writers.