Phyllis Reynolds Naylor facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
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Naylor in her writing chair.
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| Born | Phyllis Reynolds January 4, 1933 Anderson, Indiana, U.S. |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Nationality | American |
| Period | 1965–present |
| Notable awards | Newbery Medal 1992 |
| Spouse |
Rex Naylor
(m. 1960; died 2012) |
| Children | Jeffery Naylor Michael Naylor |
Phyllis Reynolds Naylor (born January 4, 1933) is an American writer. She is famous for her books for children and young adults. Many people know her best for her Shiloh series. The first book in this series won the Newbery Medal in 1992. She also wrote the popular "Alice" book series.
Contents
Becoming a Writer: Early Life and Inspiration
Phyllis Reynolds Naylor was born in Anderson, Indiana. She grew up during the Great Depression with her older sister and younger brother. Even though times were tough, she felt rich because her parents had many books. They often read stories aloud to their children. Her favorite book as a child was Huckleberry Finn.
Phyllis started writing her own stories when she was in elementary school. When she was 16, a teacher asked her to write a story for a church magazine. She wrote a baseball story called "Mike's Hero" and earned $4.67 for it! This made her want to write more. She sent her stories to magazines like Highlights and Seventeen. For two years, she mostly received letters saying "no," but she kept trying.
She finished high school in 1951 and college in 1953. Later, she moved to Chicago and worked different jobs. She decided to become a full-time author.
A Career Full of Stories
Phyllis Reynolds Naylor moved to Maryland and went to American University. She graduated in 1963. In 1960, she married Rex Naylor, and they had two sons. She had thought about studying psychology, but she chose to become a writer instead.
Her first book for children was The Galloping Goat and Other Stories. It was published in 1965. Since then, she has written about two books every year! Many of her books have won special awards. The American Library Association and the International Reading Association have recognized her work. In 1985, she won the Edgar Allan Poe Award for her book Night Cry.
The Shiloh Series
In 1991, Naylor published Shiloh. This children's book is about a young boy and an abused dog in West Virginia. The book was a huge success! It won the famous Newbery Medal in 1992. This award brought Naylor a lot of attention.
Shiloh also won other awards, like the Sequoyah Children's Book Award. It was also chosen as a recommended book for kids aged nine to twelve. Because readers loved Shiloh so much, Naylor wrote two more books to continue the story: Shiloh Season (1996) and Saving Shiloh (1997). Later, she added A Shiloh Christmas (2015).
In 2000, the Shiloh books were ranked among the top 100 children's books by the National Education Association. Naylor was very happy that children loved her stories so much.
The Alice Series
In 1985, Naylor wrote The Agony of Alice. This book is about a sixth-grade girl named Alice who is looking for a role model. Readers loved Alice and wanted more of her stories. So, Naylor started writing more books about Alice.
The Alice series follows Alice as she grows older in each book. Naylor even wrote three books about a younger Alice before the first one. The series covers many months of Alice's life from ages 12 to 18. The very last book even shows parts of her life from age 18 to 60!
Phyllis Naylor's Life and Legacy
Phyllis Naylor was married to Rex Naylor for 52 years until he passed away in 2012. They had two sons, Jeffrey and Michael. She also has four grandchildren, one of whom is a writer too!
So far, Phyllis Reynolds Naylor has written over 130 books and about 2,000 articles. She says she will keep writing "as long as she can hold a pencil." She also helped start the PEN/Phyllis Naylor Working Writer Fellowship. This program helps other writers.
Awards and Recognitions
Phyllis Reynolds Naylor has won many important awards for her books:
- Newbery Medal
- Edgar Allan Poe Mystery Writers Award
- Child Study Award
- Kerlan Award
- Foremother Award from National Center for Health Research, 2014
Popular Book Series by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Here are some of the well-known book series written by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor:
- Alice series
- The Agony of Alice (1985)
- Alice in Rapture, Sort of (1989)
- Reluctantly Alice (1991)
- All but Alice (1992)
- Alice in April (1993)
- Alice in-Between (1994)
- Alice the Brave (1995)
- Alice in Lace (1996)
- Outrageously Alice (1997)
- Achingly Alice (1998)
- Alice on the Outside (1999)
- The Grooming of Alice (2000)
- Alice Alone (2001)
- Simply Alice (2002)
- Starting With Alice (2002) (prequel)
- Alice in Blunderland (2003) (prequel)
- Patiently Alice (2003)
- Including Alice (2004)
- Lovingly Alice (2004) (prequel)
- Alice on Her Way (2005)
- Alice in the Know (2006)
- Dangerously Alice (2007)
- Almost Alice (2008)
- Intensely Alice (2009)
- Alice in Charge (2010)
- Incredibly Alice (2011)
- Alice on Board (2012)
- Now I'll Tell You Everything (2013)
- Shiloh series
- Shiloh (1991)
- Shiloh Season (1996)
- Saving Shiloh (1997)
- A Shiloh Christmas (2015)
- Hatfords and Malloys series (about two rival families)
- The Boys Start the War (1992)
- The Girls Get Even (1993)
- Boys Against Girls (1994)
- The Girls' Revenge (1998)
- Who Won the War? (2006)
- The Witch Saga series
- Witch's Sister (1975)
- Witch Water (1977)
- The Witch Herself (1978)
- The Witch's Eye (1990)
- The Witch Returns (1992)
- Bessledorf Mysteries (featuring Bernie Magruder)
- The Mad Gasser of Bessledorf Street (1983)
- The Bodies in the Bessledorf Hotel (1986)
- Bernie Magruder & the Haunted Hotel (1990)
- Bernie Magruder and the Case of the Big Stink (2001)
