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Jack Gantos: An Author Kids Love (Authors Kids Love)

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When Jack Gantos was in college he started to write children's books, but most of the time they were rotten and he got a lot of rejection slips. It certainly isn't easy learning how to write good stories, but one day he got an inspiration. He would write about his mischievous cat, Carew. "It was a vicious man-eating cat," he said. Oh, oh . . . here comes Rotten Ralph!

Over the years Jack has since written many award winning stories, but most children who love his stories don't know anything about him. He talks about when he was a boy and said that there was a bit of Ralph in him as well (if you can believe that). In this book you can meet Jack, learn about his family when he was growing up, how he loved to hide out and read, his passion for writing in a journal and much more. He even gives some suggestions on how to write: "I think the rule of thumb for what to write about is to write what you feel, write what you see, write what you know, and write what you think is true. That is what makes great writing."

Many children are familiar with Rotten Ralph, Jack Henry and Joey Pigza, but very few with Jack Gantos. I enjoyed reading this fun biography and found it nice to see the face behind these rascally characters! There are several childhood pictures. This would be a wonderful classroom or library addition. This is from the series, "Authors Kids Love." I think you'll like Jack!