Donna Jo Napoli facts for kids

Donna Jo Napoli, born on February 28, 1948, is an American writer. She writes many books for children and young adults. She is also a linguist, which means she studies language. Today, she teaches about language at Swarthmore College. She explores how language connects to many things, like music, theater, and dance. Before that, she taught at other well-known universities such as Smith College and Georgetown University.

Growing Up and Family Life

Donna Jo Napoli was the youngest of four children. She was born in Miami, Florida, on February 28, 1948. Her family came from Italy. When she was 10, doctors found out she had an eyesight problem. Once it was fixed, Napoli became a huge reader. Books became a comfort for her, helping her through tough times.

Napoli is a citizen of both the U.S. and Italy. She is married and has five children.

Education and Language Studies

Donna Jo Napoli went to Harvard University for college. She earned her first degree in Mathematics in 1970. Then, she continued her studies and received her master's and PhD degrees in Romance Languages in 1973. After that, she did more research in linguistics at M.I.T. This led to her career in studying languages.

Napoli started her language career by focusing on how sentences are built. She studied Italian and other Romance languages. Her work grew to cover many areas of language. This included how sounds, words, and history affect language. She also studied American Sign Language.

She has written several books about linguistics. One well-known book is Syntax: Theory and Problems. In 2015, she was honored by the Linguistic Society of America. This showed how important her work in language studies is.

Writing Books for Young People

Donna Jo Napoli always loved writing. However, she did not start her writing career right away. Her first book, The Hero of Barletta, was published in 1988. Napoli's books often deal with real-life problems. These can include family difficulties, worries, fears, and sickness. She believes it is important for children to read stories about challenges they might face. This can help them feel less alone.

Her children's books have been translated into many languages. Some have even been translated into different sign languages. Many of her books are new versions of classic fairy tales. These include The Magic Circle, Spinners, Zel, and Beast. She also writes historical fiction stories set in Italy. Examples are Daughter of Venice and The Smile.

Napoli has won many awards for her writing. These include the Golden Kite Award and the Sydney Taylor Book Award.

Working with Deaf Communities

In the early 2000s, Donna Jo Napoli began to study sign languages. She also built strong connections with the Deaf community. She has contributed to research on sign languages. One of her books on this topic is Primary movement in sign languages.

Combining her love for language and stories, Napoli has worked with others to create special e-books. These are called bimodal bilingual e-books. They are for hearing parents to read to their deaf children. These e-books include both spoken language and sign language videos. This project includes many sign languages from around the world.

Fiction Books

Young Adult Novels

• The Magic Circle, 1993
• Zel, 1996
• Song of the Magdalene, 1996
• Stones in Water, 1997
• For the Love of Venice, 1998
• Sirena, 1998
• Spinners, 1999
• Crazy Jack, 1999
• Beast, 2000
• Daughter of Venice, 2002
• The Great God Pan, 2003
• Breath, 2003
• North, 2004
• Bound, 2004
• The King of Mulberry Street, 2005
• Fire in the Hills, 2006
• Hush: An Irish Princess' Tale, 2007
• The Smile, 2008
• Alligator Bayou, 2009
• The Wager, 2010
• Skin, 2013
• Storm, 2014
• Hidden: An Irish Princess' Tale, 2014
• Dark Shimmer, 2015

Elementary- and Middle-School Novels

• Soccer Shock, 1991
• The Prince of the Pond, 1992
• When the Water Closes over my Head, 1994
• Shark Shock, 1994
• The Bravest Thing, 1995
• Jimmy, the Pickpocket of the Palace, 1995
• On Guard, 1997
• Trouble on the Tracks, 1998
• Changing Tunes, 1998
• Shelley Shock, 2000
• Three Days, 2001
• Gracie, the Pixie of the Puddle, 2004
• Sly the Sleuth and the Pet Mysteries, 2005
• Ugly, 2006
• Sly the Sleuth and the Sports Mysteries, 2006
• Sly the Sleuth and the Food Mysteries, 2007
• Mogo, the Third Warthog, 2008
• Sly the Sleuth and the Code Mysteries, 2009
• Lights On The Nile, 2011
• Treasury of Greek Mythology: Classic Stories of Gods, Goddesses, Heroes & Monsters, 2011
• Treasury of Egyptian Mythology: Classic Stories of Gods, Goddesses, Monsters & Mortals, 2013
• Treasury of Norse Mythology: Stories Of Intrigue, Trickery, Love & Revenge, 2015
• Tales From the Arabian Nights: Stories of Adventure, Magic, Love, and Betrayal, 2016
• Treasury of Bible Stories, 2019
• Treasury of Magical Tales From Around the World, 2021
• Words to Make a Friend, 2021

The Angelwings Series

• Friends Everywhere
• Little Creatures
• On Her Own
• One Leap Forward
• Give and Take
• No Fair!
• April Flowers
• Playing Games
• Lies and Lemons
• Running Away
• Know-It-All
• New Voices
• Left Out
• Happy Holidays
• Partners
• Hang In There

Picture Books and Early Readers

• The Hero of Barletta, 1988
• Albert, 2001
• How Hungry are You?, 2001
• Rocky, the Cat who Barks, 2002
• Flamingo Dream, 2002
• Hotel Jungle, 2004
• Pink Magic, 2005
• Bobby the Bold, 2006
• The Wishing Club: A Story About Fractions, 2007
• Corkscrew Counts: A Story About Multiplication, 2008
• Ready to Dream, 2009
• The Earth Shook: A Persian Tale, 2009
• Handy Stories to Read and Sign, 2009
• Mama Miti: Wangari Maathai and the Trees of Kenya, 2010
• The Crossing, 2011
• A Single Pearl, 2013
• Hands & Hearts, 2014
• As Night Falls: Creatures That Go Wild After, 2023

eBooks

• Hang In There, 2015
• Left Out, 2015
• Partners, 2015
• Happy Holidays, 2015
• Know-It-All, 2015
• No Fair!, 2015
• Playing Games, 2015
• April Flowers, 2015
• One Leap Forward, 2015
• Give And Take, 2015
• On Her Own, 2015
• Song Of The Magdalene, 2015
• Friends Everywhere, 2015
• Little Creatures, 2015