Jennifer Richard Jacobson

Photos

Interviews and Essays

 

Short Author Bio

 

unior Library Guild Selections Chicago Public Library Best Children’s Book IRA Young Adult’s Choice Award Parents Choice Gold Award ALA Best Books for Young Adults Publisher’s Weekly Best Children’s Books New York Public Library Best Book for Teen Age Bank Street College Best Children’s Book of the Year ILA Social Justice Award Maine Lupine Award (thrice)

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unior Library Guild Selections Chicago Public Library Best Children’s Book IRA Young Adult’s Choice Award Parents Choice Gold Award ALA Best Books for Young Adults Publisher’s Weekly Best Children’s Books New York Public Library Best Book for Teen Age Bank Street College Best Children’s Book of the Year ILA Social Justice Award Maine Lupine Award (thrice) 〰️

Jennifer, a graduate of Harvard Graduate School of Education, is the author of oodles of award-winning children’s books including Small as an Elephant (IRA Young Adult’s Choice, Parents’ Choice Gold Award), Paper Things (ILA Social Justice Award, NTCE Charlotte Huck Honorable Mention) and The Dollar Kids illustrated by Ryan Andrews (ABA IndieNext List and Bank Street Best Book of the Year). Her newest launches are a chapter book series: Twig and Turtle: Big Move to a Tiny House, a middle grade romance: Crashing in Love, and a picture book: Oh, Chickadee! She lives in Maine and when not writing, offers coaching and critiques.

 

Teacher Bio

 

Jennifer Richard Jacobson, a literacy specialist, is the author of No More “I’m Done!” Fostering Independent Writers in the Primary Grades and over a dozen award-winning books for children Including Andy Shane and the Very Bossy Dolores Starbuckle, a Junior Library Guild Selection and a Chicago Public Library’s Best Children’s Book, and the bestselling middle grade novel Small as an Elephant, which won a Parent’s Choice Gold award.

Jennifer believes that all writers (including young children) learn by exploration, risk-taking, and feedback that celebrates success (rather than just focusing on what’s missing). She encourages teachers to develop writing programs that include authentic purpose, genuine audience, and joy.

A graduate of Lesley College and Harvard Graduate School of Education, Jennifer has taught preschool through sixth grade and has served as Curriculum Coordinator, Head of Studies, and Language Arts Specialist in several schools. As a continuing author-in-residence and educational consultant, she has worked with thousands of teachers and administrators to help students reach their highest potential. Her own development as a writer of children’s fiction and nonfiction, and her expertise in the area of children’s literature, provide her with an intimate understanding of the complex processes of learning to read and write. She is praised for her high energy, practical strategies, and educational wisdom while presenting (and modeling) exemplary teaching practices.


 

Longer Bio.

 

Coming from a long line of educators, I always knew I’d be a teacher. I didn’t always know I’d be a writer, but somehow it turned out that way. I kept a diary since the age of nine, and I won the Edith Bird Bass Essay Contest as a senior in high school in my hometown of Peterborough, NH.

While an undergrad at Lesley College, I took a course in children’s literature and fell in love with the genre. I tinkered with writing while teaching, holding administrative positions, and getting my masters, but it wasn’t until I moved to Maine and returned to the classroom as a first-grade teacher, that I became determined to write a children’s book. I told my students we were going to write up a storm that year. I was going to teach them everything I knew about writing, and they, in turn, would help me to become a better writer. And they did.

I consider the children’s novel I wrote that year to be “practice” and although it will never be published, it kept me on the path, kept me writing. When my daughter was born, I decided to try my hand at a writing career. I wrote articles, books for parents and teachers, teacher guides and emergent readers for first-grade reading programs – anything that would give me the time and space to continue trying to break into the children’s field.

No writing is ever wasted. Freelance jobs taught me the craft and cadence of a writing life. I learned that the most important thing about writing is this: you must sit down and write. But it was one particular job I credit for giving me the understanding I needed to finally sell a children’s book.

The mother of two young children, I accepted the challenge of reading and reviewing 400 picture books for an educational company in the process of creating reading anthologies. My children thought I was the greatest. I stayed in my pajamas and read to them all day long. Soon after this gig ended, I went on a writing retreat and wrote my first saleable book, A Net of Stars. By reading all of these wonderful new books, I was able to recognize the pattern of story, the power of voice, and the tone of modern literature. Three years later I had my first signing and a few of those children from my first-grade class came to say hello.

They were seniors in high school.