Bio:
David Harrison’s first book for children (The Boy With a Drum), was released in 1969 and eventually sold over two million copies. In 1972, David won national recognition when he received the Christopher Award for The Book of Giant Stories. Since then David has published seventy-seven original titles that have sold more than fifteen million copies and earned numerous honors. He has been anthologized in more than one hundred books and appeared in dozens of magazines and professional journals. His work has been translated into twelve languages and presented on television, radio, cassette, and CD-ROM. His poetry inspired Sandy Asher’s school play, Somebody Catch My Homework, which has been produced in the United States and abroad. Jesse and Grace, a fourth-grade best friends’ play in poetry, has been praised for its “honesty of characters and use of art and music.” David’s SKY HIGH ON READING program was the International Reading Association’s nationwide winner in 2001. The Missouri Librarian Association presented him with its 2007 Literacy Award for the body of his work. Among David’s professional books are, Easy Poetry Lessons That Dazzle and Delight, with Bernice Cullinan (Scholastic); Using the Power of Poetry to Teach Language Arts, Social Studies, Math, and More, with Kathy Holderith (Scholastic); “Yes, Poetry Can,” the poetry chapter for Children’s Literature in the Reading Program (3rd Edition, edited by Deborah Wooten and Bernice Cullinan; 7/09, IRA); Partner Poems for Building Fluency: 40 Engaging Poems for Two Voices With Motivating Activities That Help Students Improve Their Fluency and Comprehension, with Tim Rasinski and Gay Fawcett, (Scholastic, 8/09); and Phonemic Awareness through Poetry Play, with Mary Jo Fresch, (in progress, IRA). In the last fifteen years David has been a keynote speaker, banquet speaker, featured speaker, featured author, or presenter at eighty state, regional, and national conferences in twenty-seven states. David holds science degrees from Drury and Emory universities and honorary doctorate of letters degrees from Missouri State University and Drury University. He has an elementary school named for him and is poet laureate of Drury. He lives in Springfield, Missouri with his wife Sandy, a retired guidance counselor.
Writer
PAL
Member since 1987
Region: Missouri
Contact Information
Current Location: Springfield
Website: http://davidlharrison.com/
Published In Children's Market: Yes
Available for Speaking Engagements? Yes
