Darcy Pattison is a children’s book author and writing teacher. In 1999, she created the Novel Revision Retreat, which she now teaches across the nation. Her four picturebooks and one middle grade novel, listed below, have been recognized for excellence by starred reviews, Book of the Year awards, state award lists and more. Darcy Pattison Photos (377 KB Zip file of publicity photos)

Fiction

• 19 Girls and Me, (Philomel, June 2006,), a picture book, illustrated by Steven Salerno, about friendship in a kindergarten class with nineteen girls and one lone boy. Translated into Chinese (Commonwealth Magazine Co./Taiwan), Arabic (Dar El Shorouk/Egypt) and German. Reviewed in Kirkus, PW, SLJ. Children’s Book of the Month Club selection.
• Searching for Oliver K. Woodman (Harcourt, March 2005), a picture book illustrated by Joe Cepeda. When Oliver is missing for sixty days, his friends send Imogene Poplar, P.I.–a wooden woman–to find him. Reviewed in Kirkus, PW, BCCB, SLJ, Booklist. 2007-8 Arkansas Diamond Award Reading list.
• The Journey of Oliver K. Woodman (Harcourt Inc., 2003), a picture book illustrated by Joe Cepeda . A wooden man travels across the United States to connect a family. Reviewed in PW, SLJ, Booklist, and Horn Book. *Starred reviews in Kirkus and BCCB. Autumn 2003 Children’s Booksense 76. Child magazine Best Books of the Year 2003. Nick Jr. Family Magazine Best Books of the Year 2003. CCBC Choices 2004 list. Irma S. and James H. Black Picture Book Award Honor Book. Nutmeg Media Children’s Picture Books on Video, June 2005; 2006 ALA Notable Video.
• The Wayfinder (Greenwillow Books, 2000), a middle-grade fantasy novel. Winchal Eldras goes on a quest for healing both for himself and for his land. It has been reviewed in SLJ, Booklist, BCCB, Horn Book, VOYA and Locus Magazine. Translated into Spanish, El buscador de camino, (Groupo Editorial Norma, www.norma.com)
• The River Dragon, a picture book illustrated by Jean and Mou-sien Tseng,(Lothrop, Lee & Shepard), c. 1991. Translated into Swedish, Danish and Norwegian.

How to Write books

• Paper Lightning: Sparking Student Brainstorming for Effective Pre-writing, (Cottonwood Press, 2008).A teacher-resource book about brainstorming and pre-writing.
• Novel Metamorphosis: Uncommon Ways to Revise (Mims House, 2008). This is the workbook to the popular Darcy Pattison Novel Revision Retreat.

Biography

Darcy has written non-fiction for children for Kids Wall Street News and fiction for Clubhouse Magazine. She written about writing for Writer’s Digest, SCBWI Bulletin, Children’s Writers & Illustrators Market 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003, Children’s Writer, and Children’s Book Insider. Darcy served as Arkansas Regional Advisor for the Society of Children’s Bookwriters and Illustrators from 1991-96. From 1991-2004, she served as Director of the AR-SCBWI “Writing & Illustrating for Children Conference.” For six years, she was the Children’s Book Reviewer for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. In 1999, Darcy created the Novel Revision Retreat, which she teaches nationwide. She currently teaches creative writing at the University of Central Arkansas. She is a member of the Author’s Guild. She is the 2007 recipient of the Arkansas Governor’s Art Award for Individual Artist.

Darcy has a B.A. from the University of Arkansas and an M.A. from Kansas State University. She lives in North Little Rock, AR with her husband and four children.

For more biographical information see Something About the Author, Vol 72, pp. 194-196.