J. Patrick Lewis facts for kids

J. Patrick Lewis, born on May 5, 1942, is an American writer famous for his fun and imaginative poems for kids. He also writes other kinds of poems called light verse, which are often humorous or playful. Before becoming a full-time writer in 1998, he taught economics at a university from 1974.

Awards and Recognition

J. Patrick Lewis has won many important awards for his writing, showing how much his work is loved and respected.

• He received the Claudia Lewis Award in 2013 and the Cybils Award for Poetry in 2014.
• In 2002, he won the Golden Kite Award from the Society of Children Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) for his picture book stories.
• He also won the Ohioana Book Award for Poetry for Young Children in 2015.
• One of his biggest honors was the Excellence in Children's Poetry Award from the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) in 2010–11. This special award is given out every two years.
• From 2011 to 2013, he was the third U.S. Children's Poet Laureate. This special role is now called the Young People's Poet Laureate, and it means he was chosen as a top poet for young readers in the country!

His Books

J. Patrick Lewis has written many books, mostly poetry and stories for children. His books often feature fun rhymes, riddles, and interesting facts about animals, history, and science.

Here are a few examples of his many works:

• A Hippopotamusn't; and Other Animal Verses (1990)
• The Christmas of the Reddle Moon (1994)
• Doodle Dandies: Poems That Take Shape (1998)
• Arithme-tickle: An Even Number of Odd Riddle-Rhymes (2002)
• Please Bury Me in the Library (2004)
• Blackbeard the Pirate King (2006)
• The Brothers' War: Civil War Voices in Verse (2007)
• When Thunder Comes: Poems for Civil Rights Leaders (2012)
• World Rat Day: Poems About Real Holidays You've Never Heard Of (2013)
• Harlem Hellfighters (2014)
• The Navajo Code Talkers (2016)
• The Poetry of Us: More than 200 poems about people, places, and passions of the United States (2018)