Literary

Where did Roald Dahl get all of his wonderful ideas for stories? From his own life, of course! As full of excitement and the unexpected as his world-famous, best-selling books, Roald Dahl's tales of his own childhood are completely fascinating and fiendishly funny....

Raised in South Carolina and New York, Woodson always felt halfway home in each place. In vivid poems, she shares what it was like to grow up as an African American in the 1960s and 1970s....

A middle grade memoir from a living literary legend, giving listeners a new perspective on the origins of Gary Paulsen's famed survival stories....

In 1995, on a four-hour-delayed train from Manchester to London, J. K. Rowling conceived of the idea of a boy wizard named Harry Potter....

In this book from the number one New York Times best-selling series, learn how this vibrant Black neighborhood in upper Manhattan became home to the leading Black writers, artists, and musicians of the 1920s and 1930s....

Mark Twain was born fully grown, with a cheap cigar clamped between his teeth. So begins Sid Fleischman's ramble-scramble biography of the great American author and wit....

This fast-paced, high-energy collection of short works features today's most popular writers and illustrators on what it means to be a guy. Contributors include Chris Crutcher, Stephen King, Matt Groening, Daniel Pinkwater, Neil Gaiman, and many more....

Ted Geisel loved to doodle from the time he was a kid. He had an offbeat, fun-loving personality. He often threw dinner parties where guests wore outrageous hats! And he donned quirky hats when thinking up ideas for books-like his classic The Cat in the Hat....

Dramatic, lyrical, and beautiful, O Captain, My Captain tells the story of one of America’s greatest poets and how he was inspired by one of America’s greatest presidents....

The beloved plays of Shakespeare are still produced everywhere, yet the life of the world's most famous playwright remains largely a mystery. Young Will left the town of Stratford to pursue theater in London, where his work eventually thrived and made him a famous and wealthy man....

One of the most important patriots in post-Revolutionary times.....

Newbery Award-winning author Jack Gantos shares advice for how to be the best brilliant writer in this funny and practical writing guide....

In this delightful sequel, award-winning author-illustrator dePaola shares engaging childhood memories....

Even when he was a kid, everyone thought Jeff Kinney was talented. People loved his drawings, and when he went to college his comic strip, Igdoof, was so popular it spread to other universities....

From the big woods of Wisconsin to the Indian country of the Great Plains, new adventures and landscapes filled the rich childhood of Laura Ingalls Wilder. On a frontier steeped in both danger and great possibility, Laura would grow up to witness firsthand the rapid transformation of the West....

When Charles Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol in 1843, he likely had no idea that the story and its main character, Ebenezer Scrooge, would remain so popular nearly two centuries later....

How did Jon Scieszka get so funny, anyway? Growing up as one of six brothers was a good start, but that was just the beginning. Throw in Catholic school, lazy summers at the lake, babysitting misadventures, TV shows, jokes told at family dinner, and the result is Knucklehead....

Acclaimed novelist Ibi Zoboi illuminates the young life of the visionary storyteller Octavia E. Butler in poems and prose. Born into the Space Race, the Red Scare, and the dawning Civil Rights Movement, Butler experienced an American childhood....

In a heartwarming first-person account, dePaola retells his experiences at home and in school when he was a boy....

Roald Dahl is one of the most famous children's book authors ever. Now, in this Who Was...? biography, children will learn of his real-life adventures....

Wacky, daring, just plain nuts - extreme sports lead to extreme fun in new stories from Gary’s boyhood....

An experienced Iditarod racer, Gary Paulsen brings his love of the sport to readers on a personal level in this intimate essay about the life of a litter of pups born to pull sleds....

In a heartwarming first-person account, dePaola retells his experiences at home and in school when he was a boy....

Roald Dahl, el gran autor de literatura infantil, narra los acontecimientos más fascinantes de su vida: las experiencias como piloto de combate en la Segunda Guerra Mundial, el placer de volar, la camaradería en tiempos difíciles y la exótica belleza de sus viajes por África....

New York Times best-selling author-illustrator Vashti Harrison shines a bold, joyous light on black men through history....