Cynthia Rylant
Cynthia Rylant
Cynthia Rylant was born in 1954 in Hopewell, VA. (jrank.org) She is a writer, educator, and a librarian. She has written over sixty children’s books. She not only writes picture books for children but she also writes novels for young adults. (About.com Children 's Books) She has been honored with Booklist reviewer’s choice 1982, Newbery Medal 1993, Children’s Book of the Year, CSA, 1985, Ohioana Award 1990 and many more. (jrank.org) Although Rylant is very successful, her early years of life influenced her to become a writer. At the age of four, her parents’ divorced and Cynthia moved to Cool Ridge, West Virginia. In Cool Ridge she lived with her grandparents while her mother went to nursing school. Her grandparents had no running water, electricity, or a car. Most of their food was grown and hunted. Here Cynthia was very active and tomboyish. (Murtha) Rylant stated in her 1993 Newbery Medal acceptance speech, “There is no question in my mind that it was during those years that the writer in me was born.” “I grew up reading comic books because there was no library in my town or in my school, and I did not enter a public library until in my twenties.” (Rylant 2) When Cynthia was eight, her mother graduated from nursing school. She moved to Beaver, West Virginia. In Beaver, Cynthia transformed herself and went from tomboy to a majorette. At the age of thirteen Rylant’s father died. (jrank.org) After she graduated she went University of Charleston and graduated from Marshall University with a master’s degree in English, in 1976. Rylant then went to job find a job. She applied at the Cabell County Public Library in Huntington, West Virginia (Rylant 2). At age twenty-two, Rylant got the job as a clerk for the children’s book section of the library. During this time she discovered the books Goodnight Moon and Charlotte’s Web. These books inspired her to write her own. Within five months she had finish writing her first story and was pregnant with
Cynthia Rylant was born in 1954 in Hopewell, VA. (jrank.org) She is a writer, educator, and a librarian. She has written over sixty children’s books. She not only writes picture books for children but she also writes novels for young adults. (About.com Children 's Books) She has been honored with Booklist reviewer’s choice 1982, Newbery Medal 1993, Children’s Book of the Year, CSA, 1985, Ohioana Award 1990 and many more. (jrank.org) Although Rylant is very successful, her early years of life influenced her to become a writer. At the age of four, her parents’ divorced and Cynthia moved to Cool Ridge, West Virginia. In Cool Ridge she lived with her grandparents while her mother went to nursing school. Her grandparents had no running water, electricity, or a car. Most of their food was grown and hunted. Here Cynthia was very active and tomboyish. (Murtha) Rylant stated in her 1993 Newbery Medal acceptance speech, “There is no question in my mind that it was during those years that the writer in me was born.” “I grew up reading comic books because there was no library in my town or in my school, and I did not enter a public library until in my twenties.” (Rylant 2) When Cynthia was eight, her mother graduated from nursing school. She moved to Beaver, West Virginia. In Beaver, Cynthia transformed herself and went from tomboy to a majorette. At the age of thirteen Rylant’s father died. (jrank.org) After she graduated she went University of Charleston and graduated from Marshall University with a master’s degree in English, in 1976. Rylant then went to job find a job. She applied at the Cabell County Public Library in Huntington, West Virginia (Rylant 2). At age twenty-two, Rylant got the job as a clerk for the children’s book section of the library. During this time she discovered the books Goodnight Moon and Charlotte’s Web. These books inspired her to write her own. Within five months she had finish writing her first story and was pregnant with
Cited: About.com Children 's Books. Spotlight on Award Winning Author Cynthia Rylant. n.d. 24 3 2012 <http://childrensbooks.about.com/cs/authorsillustrato/a/cynthiarylant.htm>. jrank.org. Cynthia Rylant (1954-) Biography. April 2005. <http://biography.jrank.org/pages/1628/Rylant-Cynthia-1954.html>. Murtha, Lisa. Ohio Reading Road Trip. 2004. 2012 Feburary 2012 <http://www.orrt.org/rylant/index.html>. Rylant, Cynthia. "Newbery Medal Acceptance." 27 June 1993. EBSCO Publishing. 2 Feburary 2012 <http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f5h&AN-9308125592&site=ehost-live>.