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Laurence Pringle
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Laurence Pringle

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At www.laurencepringle.com, you can discover "the story behind the book" of many titles, read his blog, and also learn about school author visits. And there is this: Laurence Pringle is one of the nation's most honored nonfiction authors for children. He apologizes for this; he didn't aim to write any books at all! And here are some of the roots of his career. He was raised in an isolated rural area south of Rochester, NY. He and his brother were not close. There were no potential kid friends nearby. A lonely, curious boy, he found comfort and escape in reading books and especially in nature--a sanctuary, a place of safety, mystery, wonder, delight. That effect continues to this day. Larry's formal education began in School 14--a one room school with 18-20 students, grades 1-8, with one teacher. Larry and his brother walked about two miles, one-way, to that school in all seasons. Much later, he wrote a 32-page memoir of that school experience: ONE ROOM SCHOOL (1998). The BOOKLIST reviewer wrote "Warm, specific memories fill the book and give children a sense of both history and place." The school closed and students rode a bus to Honeoye Falls Central School. Larry became passionate about identifying birds, and built bird houses for wrens and bluebirds. However, Larry's love of nature grew deeper--to questions far beyond mere identification. An experience with birds led to his first published work. Larry wrote a few paragraphs about some crow behavior he had witnessed. It was published in OPEN ROAD MAGAZINE. He was paid five whole dollars and was a published author at age 17! However, this was not a breakthrough event, a foreshadowing of a future career, partly because of the reality of life in his family. Neither of his parents had graduated from high school, so that was their aim for their children. The word "college" was never mentioned. Larry had no expectations of that in his life. After high school graduation he took a job and expected to spend some time in military service, then get a job in a Rochester factory or business. However, two key people asked "Why aren't you going to college?" And one loaned some college catalogs. About 15 months after his high school graduation, Larry became a freshman at Cornell University. (And in a Cornell ornithology class he learned that his interpretation of crow behavior, his first publication, was dead wrong!) He earned college degrees in wildlife conservation at Cornell University and the University of Massachusetts. He even began work on a Ph. D.in that field. But a love of reading, word play, and other factors led him to write magazine articles and to become an editor at a children's science magazine. Called NATURE AND SCIENCE, it was published at the American Museum of Natural History. He says "If I hadn't found that particular job I might never have written for children and young adults." The magazine aimed to give accurate and fascinating information to young readers. Larry learned an important lesson there. Every article in the magazine was fact-checked by scientists on the museum staff--and they sometimes found errors or omissions that led to changes. Writers thought they had done a good research job but learned it was not good enough. From then on, when working on a book Larry always sought input from experts. When Larry started work at the magazine he never dreamed of writing a book. His confidence as a writer grew, and his editor-boss, Roy Gallant (author of many books), encouraged Larry to try and write one. His first subject was dinosaurs. The writing process was hard work, plus he had a full- time job and young children. The challenge was finding time to write, after the kids were put to bed, and sometimes on weekends. The completed manuscript was rejected by several publishers, then accepted and published (DINOSAURS AND THEIR WORLD, 1968). For a few months Larry felt that writing it was such an ordeal that he would never go through that again! He changed his mind, and by the fall of 2022 had published 123 books. His titles have been translated into six other languages, and have earned countless starred reviews. In 2006 the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation awarded him a Fellowship. This led to his 109th book, BILLIONS OF YEARS, AMAZING CHANGES: THE STORY OF EVOLUTION. Larry has written a few fiction picture books for young children (including OCTOPUS HUG, BEAR HUG, and NAMING THE CAT). All the rest are nonfiction. Many are written for the middle elementary grades, others were aimed at older students. And many adults know that YA books (young adult) are fine for adult consumption. One title in particular, AN EXTRAORDINARY LIFE: THE STORY OF A MONARCH BUTTERFLY, is highly praised by both children and adults. It is narrative nonfiction, about the life of one female monarch, and some readers, young and old, confess that they cried at the end--a rare happening with a nonfiction book. Some of his recent titles are also narrative nonfiction, though aimed at younger readers. One book close to his heart is THE SECRET LIFE OF THE RED FOX (partly because his neighbors include red foxes). It, too, ends in a way that can stir feelings, but not tears. In a starred review, SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL said "A rich reading experience awaits those who pick up this title." The "secret life" series, illustrated by the artist Kate Garchinsky, earns high praise from reviewers. The subjects include a skunk family, a little brown bat, a mother sloth and her son, and a sea otter mother and hers. This 2022 title, THE SECRET LIFE OF THE SEA OTTER, earned a starred review from SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL. The review ends: "This is a juvenile nonfiction treasure, highly recommended to all libraries who serve children." For Larry, writing is still hard work. When he has a chance to write a book, his feeling is not "Oh, boy, a chance to write," but "Oh boy, a chance to learn about something I want to know more about." Also, it is a chance to express his voice--his feelings and values. In a sense, he feels he is a teacher. Not, he hopes, a teacher who drones on and on, and aims to jam only names, dates, and other facts into students' heads, but a teacher whose passion for ideas and excitement about knowledge is communicated to students. Laurence likes visiting schools to give programs about the writing process. For more information, see his web site: www.laurencepringle.com. And by clicking on book titles, you can reach "the story behind the book"--a feature can intrigues both readers and writers. The web site also features a BLOG.
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