TCCL News & Events

Newberry Honor-winning author Kathryn Lasky is the winner of the Tulsa Library Trust’s 2011 Anne V. Zarrow Award for Young Readers’ Literature.

She will accept the award at a public presentation at Central Library, Fourth Street and Denver Avenue, Aug. 26 at 7 p.m. She will present the 2011 Young People’s Creative Writing Contest Awards at 10 a.m., Aug. 27 at Hardesty Regional Library, Connor’s Cove, 8316 E. 93rd St. Her visit is the culmination of the 2011 Children’s and Teen summer reading programs.

Born and raised in Indiana, Lasky honed her imagination and writing skills utilizing the prairie as her literary canvas. Admittedly not the best student in school, Lasky’s mother was the first to encourage her to not restrain her desire to write.

At the University of Michigan, she majored in English and “loved Victorian literature and Romantic poetry and Renaissance literature and just about any kind of literature anyone could imagine.”

After a short stint as a fashion magazine writer and school teacher, Lasky met her future husband, Chris Knight, a National Geographic photographer and documentary filmmaker. For their wedding gift her parents gave them a 30-foot boat which they used to sail across the Atlantic.
After returning from her voyage, she wrote her first children’s book, “I Have Four Names for My Grandfather.” She has since written dozens of books for children, teens and adults, often collaborating with her husband who supplies the photographs to her words.

Her most popular books are the “Guardians of Ga’Hoole” series, containing 15 books chronicling the adventures of Soren, the barn owl. In 2010, the 3D animated feature film “Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole,” was released with wide acclaim. The movie shares the story from the first three books.
Children’s and young adult non-fiction books by Lasky include “John Muir: America’s First Environmentalist,” “Interrupted Journey: Saving Endangered Sea Turtles,” “Searching for Laura Ingalls,” and “Sugaring Time,” which earned her a Newbery Honor.

Some of her most popular picture books are “The Librarian Who Measured the Earth,” “The Emperor’s Old Clothes,” “Marven of the Great North Woods,” “A Voice of Her Own: The Story of Phillis Wheatley, Slave Poet.” Other books by Lasky include entries in the “Royal Diaries” and “Dear America” series for Scholastic.

Her latest series is titled “The Wolves of Beyond,” and includes “Lone Wolf,” “Shadow Wolf” and “Watch Wolf.”

An added component to encourage participation with local schools is “Mr. Henry’s Books for Teachers and Students.” Participants will receive lesson plans, classroom activities and 35 student copies of Lasky’s “The Capture.” One lucky teacher will receive a classroom visit from Lasky during her Tulsa visit. Tulsa County teachers can register, beginning March 28, at www.tulsalibrary.org or call Angela Fox, 549-7492. Funding for “Mr. Henry’s Books” is provided by the Anne and Henry Zarrow Foundation.

The Anne V. Zarrow Award for Young Reader’s Literature gives formal recognition, on behalf of the Tulsa County community, to a nationally acclaimed author who has made a significant contribution to the field of literature and young adults. The award, presented by the Tulsa Library Trust, consists of a $7,500 cash prize and an engraved crystal book.

For more information on the Anne V. Zarrow Award for Young Reader’s Literature or library programming, call the AskUs Hotline, 549-7323, or visit the library’s website, www.tulsalibrary.org.