Donna Jo Napoli facts for kids

Donna Jo Napoli (born February 28, 1948) is an American author who writes amazing books for kids and teens. She is also a linguist, which means she is an expert in how languages work. She teaches about language at Swarthmore College. Her classes cover many cool topics, like how language is used in music, theater, and dance.

Growing Up and Family Life

Donna Jo Napoli was born in Miami, Florida. She was the youngest of four children in her Italian-American family. When she was 10, doctors found an eye problem she had. After it was fixed, she became a huge reader! Books became a comfort for her during difficult times at home.

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

Her Journey in Language Studies

Donna Jo Napoli went to Harvard University. She earned degrees in Mathematics and then in Romance Languages. After college, she continued to study linguistics at M.I.T. This led to her career as a language expert.

She started by studying Italian and other Romance languages. These are languages that came from Latin, like Spanish and French. She has explored many parts of language. This includes how sentences are built (syntax) and how sounds work (phonetics). She also studied how words are formed (morphology).

Donna Jo Napoli has written many books about linguistics. Some of her works include "Syntax: Theory and Problems" and "Linguistics: An Introduction." In 2015, she was honored as a Fellow of the Linguistic Society of America. This is a big award for language experts!

Becoming a Writer

Even though Donna Jo Napoli loved writing, she didn't start her writing career right away. Her first book, The Hero of Barletta, came out in 1988. She writes about real-life problems that kids and teens might face. These can include family challenges, worries, and illnesses.

Donna Jo Napoli believes it's important for young readers to see their own struggles in stories. She explained this in a 2012 TED Talk. Reading about similar problems can help kids feel less alone.

Her books have been translated into many languages, even sign languages! Many of her stories are new versions of classic fairy tales. Some examples are The Magic Circle, Spinners, and Beast. She also writes historical fiction set in Italy, like Daughter of Venice. Donna Jo Napoli has won many awards for her books. These include the Golden Kite Award and the Sydney Taylor Book Award.

Working with Deaf Communities

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

She also combines her love for language and books. She has worked with others to create special e-books. These are called bimodal bilingual e-books. They are for hearing parents to read with their deaf children. The books have both spoken language and sign language videos. This project includes many different sign languages from around the world.

Books for Young Readers

Donna Jo Napoli has written many books for different age groups.

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