Barbara Park facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Barbara Park
Born	Barbara Lynne Tidswell (1947-04-21)April 21, 1947 Mount Holly, New Jersey, U.S.
Died	November 15, 2013(2013-11-15) (aged 66) Scottsdale, Arizona, U.S.
Occupation	Author
Nationality	American
Genre	Children's literature
Notable works	Junie B. Jones
Spouse	Richard A. Park ​ (m. 1969)​
Children	2

Barbara Park (born Barbara Lynne Tidswell; April 21, 1947 – November 15, 2013) was an American writer of children's books. She is famous for creating the Junie B. Jones series. These are popular chapter books for young readers.

Park also wrote books for older kids and young adults. Some of her well-known titles include Skinnybones (1982), Mick Harte Was Here (1995), and The Graduation of Jake Moon (2000). Her stories often explore family life and school experiences. She got ideas for characters from her own children and her childhood memories. Barbara Park did not allow her books to be made into movies or TV shows. She only allowed them to be adapted for stage plays.

Barbara Park first wanted to be a high school teacher. But she changed her mind after a difficult time as a student teacher. She moved around the country with her husband, who was in the United States Air Force. They later settled in Arizona. Her first book, Skinnybones, was accepted by a publisher in 1981. Another book, Don't Make Me Smile, was published the same year.

She started writing the Junie B. Jones series in 1992. These books became very popular. She continued writing them for the rest of her life. In 1993, a child in her neighborhood died in a bicycle accident. This made her want to help others. She became a strong supporter of bicycle helmets. This sad event also inspired her book Mick Harte Was Here. Barbara Park passed away in 2013 from ovarian cancer.

Growing Up

Barbara Lynne Tidswell was born in Mount Holly, New Jersey, on April 21, 1947. Her father, Brooke Tidswell Jr., was a banker and owned a home improvement store. He was also the president of the local school board. Her mother, Doris Tidswell, worked as a high school library secretary.

Barbara had an older brother named Brooke. He later became the mayor of Mount Holly. Barbara said that when she was little, she would often tell on people. She thought she was helping them "for their own good." She dreamed of being on The Mickey Mouse Club TV show.

Every summer, her family took a two-week trip to Long Beach Island. She remembered her childhood as a happy time. As a child, she liked reading Burgess Bird for Children and the Nancy Drew books. But she read comics like Richie Rich, Archie Comics, and Uncle Scrooge even more often.

As a teenager, Barbara read more books and fewer comics. Reading The Catcher in the Rye changed how she thought about stories. It showed her how to create a character like Holden Caulfield. She also started paying more attention to what was happening in the world. Big events like the Vietnam War and the Civil rights movement were happening. She wanted to be informed so she could talk about them with her friends. Barbara graduated from Rancocas Valley Regional High School in 1965.

College and Family

Barbara started college at Rider College in New Jersey. She went there for two years. She wasn't very interested in the social life at school. She went home to her parents every weekend. Feeling unhappy, she moved to the University of Alabama for a new experience. The campus was much bigger than she was used to. She also found the area more traditional than her own liberal views. Even though she had friends, she didn't enjoy college life much.

Barbara planned to become a high school history teacher. In her last semester, she worked as a student teacher in a seventh-grade class. She didn't get much help from the main teacher. She found the experience difficult. One time, she was in charge of the class by herself. The students became very noisy during a geography bee. She was too scared to answer when the office called about the noise. After this, she decided teaching wasn't for her.

Barbara graduated in 1969 with a bachelor's degree. She met Richard Park through her roommate in college. They became friends, then started dating. They got married right after graduating. This was so she could go with him when he joined the U.S. Air Force. They moved many times during his career. They had two sons, Steven and David. Richard left the Air Force in 1974. They then settled down in Arizona. Barbara stayed home to raise their children while Richard worked as a real estate agent.

Writing Journey

Starting to Write

When her children were both in school, Barbara Park thought about getting a job. She started writing to share her sense of humor. She decided to try writing for two years. If it didn't work out, she would go back to school to study counseling. At first, newspapers and magazines rejected her work. Her first success came when Hallmark Cards published a caption she wrote for a greeting card.

She realized she wanted to write children's books after reading Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume. The first children's book she sent to publishers was Operation: Dump the Chump. She wrote it in three months, using a typewriter in her bedroom. She bought a book called Writer's Market to learn how to get published. While waiting for replies, she started two more books: Skinnybones and Don't Make Me Smile.

Don't Make Me Smile was about divorce from a 10-year-old boy's point of view. She felt this was an important topic. Her friend, who was going through a divorce, wished there were more books to help children cope. Operation: Dump the Chump was accepted by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. after other publishers said no. She signed a deal to write three books for them. Don't Make Me Smile was her first book published by Knopf in 1981. Operation: Dump the Chump and Skinnybones came out in 1982.

Junie B. Jones and Other Books

After her first books, Barbara Park wrote two stories mainly for girls. She published Beanpole in 1983, about a girl in middle school. Then came Buddies in 1985, where a young girl learns her actions can hurt others. That same year, Park won the Texas Bluebonnet Award. This helped her become more known in the book world.

After these, she decided to write without thinking about whether boys or girls would read them. In 1987, she published The Kid in the Red Jacket, about being a new student. Because Skinnybones was popular, she wrote a sequel, Almost Starring Skinnybones, in 1988. She also wrote a sequel to Don't Make Me Smile in 1989. It was called My Mother Got Married (And Other Disasters). It showed a child of divorced parents learning to accept step-siblings.

Park started a new series called The Geek Chronicles in 1990. The first book was Maxie, Rosie, and Earl—Partners in Grime. This was her first book written from a third-person perspective. The second was Rosie Swanson: Fourth-Grade Geek for President in 1991. It was a funny story about running for class president. Finally, she wrote Dear God, HELP!!! Love, Earl in 1993, which was about bullying.

In 1992, Park began publishing the Junie B. Jones chapter books. The first was Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus. These books were for younger children than her previous ones. They were part of a special series for early chapter book readers. The books featured a very talkative five-year-old girl. Junie B. Jones didn't like her middle name, just like Barbara Park disliked her own initials (B.L.T.) because they sounded like a sandwich.

Junie B. Jones became Barbara Park's most famous work. The series was sometimes debated because Junie B. Jones had poor behavior and bad grammar. Barbara Park worked with illustrator Denise Brunkus on the series. Because Junie B. Jones was so successful, she decided not to write any more Geek Chronicles books.

Mick Harte Was Here

In 1993, a child in Barbara Park's neighborhood died. He was hit by a school bus while riding his bicycle home. She saw the bicycle lying in the road, and the image stayed with her. This sad event led her to write Mick Harte Was Here. She worked on the book for two years. It was hard to write such a serious story while also writing the funny Junie B. Jones series.

Mick Harte Was Here was published in 1995. Barbara Park said it was her favorite book she wrote. The story is told by a child whose sibling died. It encourages children to wear helmets when riding bikes. Park also tried to get the Arizona State Legislature to pass a bicycle helmet law for children, but it didn't pass.

Park wasn't sure if Mick Harte Was Here would be popular. She thought the serious topic might turn away her usual readers. She even asked for less money for the book than usual. But the publishing team liked it a lot. She went on her first book tour for it. She worked with Bell Helmets, who gave away bicycle helmets at her tour events. The book was very well-received.

Later Books

For the rest of the 1990s, Park mostly wrote more Junie B. Jones books. In 1998, she wrote a picture book for older children called Psssst! It's Me... the Bogeyman. She also released a new version of Skinnybones in 1997. She updated parts that had become old-fashioned.

In 2000, Park wrote another serious book, The Graduation of Jake Moon. It was about Alzheimer's disease. The story followed a teenage boy whose grandfather was getting sicker from the disease. After The Graduation of Jake Moon, Park focused only on writing Junie B. Jones books.

In 2001, Junie B. Jones moved from kindergarten to first grade in the eighteenth book of the series, Junie B., First Grader (at last!). Park also published Junie B. Jones Personal Beeswax (An Interactive Journal) in 2003. She wrote another picture book in 2008 called Ma! There's Nothing to Do Here! A Word from Your Baby-in-Waiting. It was told from the funny perspective of a bored fetus waiting to be born. Her last Junie B. Jones book was Turkeys We Have Loved and Eaten (and Other Thankful Stuff) in 2012.

Later Life and Passing

Barbara Park was a private person. She didn't seek fame. But she sometimes met children through the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Throughout her career, she won many awards, including Parents' Choice and Students' Choice awards.

Park didn't want her books to be made into movies or TV shows. She wanted to be involved in any adaptations. She felt she only had time for stage plays. She allowed Junie B. Jones to be adapted by Imagination Stage and TheatreWorksUSA. She helped create these stage versions of her stories. She once tried to turn Beanpole into a TV series, but it didn't happen.

Barbara Park's sons, Steven and David, grew up to have their own careers. Steven became a United States Border Patrol agent, and David became a lawyer. Barbara became a grandmother when David's son was born in 2005.

Barbara Park had ovarian cancer for about seven years. She and her husband started a non-profit organization for women with ovarian cancer called Sisters in Survival. She passed away on November 15, 2013, in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Writing Style and Ideas

Barbara Park used her experiences as a mom and her time as a student teacher. These helped her describe children and school settings. She also used memories from her own childhood to create her characters' personalities. The children in her first book, Operation: Dump the Chump, were inspired by her two sons.

Park's portrayal of parents in her books reflected her own family life. She grew up in a supportive home where her parents never fought. This was true for the parents in her stories too. Family relationships are a common theme in most of Park's books.

When writing, Park kept paper, a pencil, and a flashlight by her bed. This was so she could write down ideas in the middle of the night. She didn't plan out detailed plots before she started writing. Instead, she worked "by the seat of [her] pants." She found the first part of writing difficult. She enjoyed rewriting and making her stories better more. Her main writing inspirations were J.D. Salinger and Judy Blume. Judy Blume even praised the Junie B. Jones series. People sometimes thought Judy Blume wrote them because of the similar writing style and name.

Barbara Park became known for handling serious topics in a lighthearted way. In her books, characters often find themselves in embarrassing situations. In books like Don't Make Me Smile and The Kid in the Red Jacket, she showed children dealing with worries by talking about them. She didn't believe that children's books always had to teach lessons. She thought simple entertainment was a good enough reason for a children's book. When her child characters did learn from their actions, Park showed them figuring things out on their own. Adults didn't have to explain everything to them.

See also

• Barbara Park bibliography