Happy Birthday, Johanna Hurwitz!

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Born October 9, 1937. Author of Aldo Applesauce, the Riverside Kids series, the Mostly Monty series and dozens of other children's books for chapter book and middle grade readers.

Five Fun Facts:

• Johanna Hurwitz worked for New York Public Library when she was in high school and became a children's librarian in 1959. 
• Johanna Hurwitz is not interested in writing adults books. She says, "I write for children because I am especially interested in that period of life. There is an intensity and seriousness about childhood which fascinates me." 
• Johanna Hurwitz's father was a journalist and bookseller, and her mother was a library assistant. 
• Johanna Hurwitz wrote her first book at age 8.
• One of Johanna Hurwitz's hobbies is collecting names. 

Quotation: [Monty] looked forward to the following week, when the class was scheduled to go to the school library. Last year, when the students were in kindergarten, they went once a week to hear stories. This year, they would hear stories, and they could borrow books to take home too. Monty loved reading, and he was looking forward to this new privilege. (from Mostly Monty, pages 13-14)  

Katie Says: I love to recommend Johanna Hurwitz's Riverside Kids books to families with very young children who are looking for read-aloud chapter books. The early books when Nora and Russell are in preschool are perfect for three- and four-year-olds to hear at bedtime. As someone who loves realistic fiction, I love Hurwitz's depictions of everyday life and the joys and triumphs that arise. I did a series of reviews of Hurwitz's books in 2011. Read them here.

Visit Johanna Hurwitz online at http://www.johannahurwitz.com/. 

Sources:

• Hurwitz, Johanna, and Anik McGrory. Mostly Monty. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick, 2007. Print.
• "InsideNavigation." InsideNavigation. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Sept. 2012. <http://www.yourlibrary.ws/Childrens_Webpage/j-author102000.htm>.
• "Johanna Hurwitz." 2007. Books & Authors. Gale. Gale Internal User 29 Sep 2012 <http://bna.galegroup.com/bna/start.do?p=BNA&u=gale>
• "TEACHERS." Johanna Hurwitz Interview Transcript. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Sept. 2012. <http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/johanna-hurwitz-interview-transcript>.