Sharon Creech facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Sharon Creech
Creech in 2009
Born	(1945-07-29) July 29, 1945 (age 79) South Euclid, Ohio, U.S.
Occupation	Novelist
Genre	Children's novels, low fantasy, magic realism; poetry
Notable works	Walk Two Moons Ruby Holler
Notable awards	Newbery Medal 1995 Carnegie Medal 2002

Sharon Creech was born on July 29, 1945. She is an American author who writes exciting children's novels. She made history by being the first American to win the Carnegie Medal. This is a special award for British children's books. She was also the first person ever to win both the American Newbery Medal and the British Carnegie Medal!

About Sharon Creech

Sharon Creech grew up in South Euclid, Ohio. This is a town near Cleveland. She lived with her parents, Ann and Arvel, and her sister Sandy. She also had three brothers: Dennis, Doug, and Tom.

She often visited her cousins in Quincy, Lewis County, Kentucky. This place became a big inspiration for her books. She turned it into a fictional town called Bybanks, Kentucky. You can find Bybanks in many of her stories. These include Walk Two Moons, Chasing Redbird, and Bloomability. It's even mentioned in The Wanderer.

While in college, Sharon Creech loved learning about stories. She took classes in literature and writing. Later, she became a teacher. She taught English and writing to high school students. She taught in both England and Switzerland.

Her first book for kids was Absolutely Normal Chaos. It came out in the U.K. in 1990. This book was about a 13-year-old girl's journal. It showed her everyday life in a funny way.

Her first book published in the U.S. was Walk Two Moons in 1994. This book won the famous American Newbery Medal in 1995. Later that same year, Absolutely Normal Chaos was also published in the U.S.

Sharon Creech moved back to the U.S. in 1998. She had lived abroad for 18 years. She is married to Lyle Rigg. He is a headmaster in New Jersey. She has two grown children, Rob and Karin.

Sharon Creech's Books

Sharon Creech writes both novels and picture books. She often includes important topics in her stories. These can be about being independent or learning to trust. She also writes about growing up and even about death. She often uses humor to make these serious topics easier to read.

Some of her books are written in a special way. For example, Love That Dog and Heartbeat are written in verse. This means they are like poems. Other books, like Ruby Holler and Walk Two Moons, are told as regular stories.

The book Bloomability (1998) is about an American girl. She goes to a boarding school in Switzerland. Sharon Creech taught English at a school in Switzerland. This experience inspired the setting for Bloomability.

In Love That Dog (2001), she wrote about a school assignment again. This book is a diary written in blank verse. It's from the point of view of Jack. He is a student who doesn't like poetry at first. But his teacher, Miss Stretchberry, helps him. This book was highly praised for the British Carnegie Medal.

Awards and Recognition

Sharon Creech has won many important awards for her books.

In 1995, Walk Two Moons won the Newbery Medal. This award is given by the American Library Association. It recognizes the best children's book by an American author each year. In the U.K., Walk Two Moons won the Red House Children's Book Award. Children themselves voted for this award. It also won the Reading Association Award. Later, in 1997, it won awards in Austria and Oklahoma, USA.

Bloomability won the IRA/CBC Children's Choices award in 1999. This award is chosen by children.

The Wanderer won the Parents' Choice Award in the USA in 2000. It was also a runner-up for the Newbery Medal. In the U.K., it was one of the top eight books for the Carnegie Medal.

In 2001, Sharon Creech and her book Love That Dog were highly recommended for the Carnegie Medal. She then won the Carnegie Medal in 2002. She won it for her book Ruby Holler. This award is given by British librarians. It celebrates the best children's book published in the U.K. that year.

List of Works