Table of Contents
How was Katherine Paterson childhood like?
Paterson was born in China to missionary parents. She tells NPR’s Arun Rath that she had an idyllic childhood until about the age of 5, when Japan invaded China. “Those years were very scary years,” she says.
Where did Katherine Paterson spend her childhood?
She writes about her young childhood in China, where she was born, and the mountain resort where she stayed with her mother and siblings (including a newborn sister) during wartime in the summer of 1937. Paterson tells about a family friend who was kissed by Robert E. Lee, and her distant cousin named Mark Twain.
What inspired Katherine Paterson to become a writer?
More from Paterson: Award-winning children’s author Katherine Paterson was inspired to write The Bridge to Terabithia after her son’s childhood friend was struck and killed by lightning. Paterson’s son, David, gave her permission to publish the book more than 30 years ago. He was 8 years old.
Does Katherine Paterson have any siblings?
Lizzie Womeldorf
Helen WomeldorfRaymond WomeldorfAnne Womeldorf
Katherine Paterson/Siblings
What is Katherine Paterson best known for?
Katherine Paterson. Katherine Womeldorf Paterson (born October 31, 1932) is a Chinese-born American writer best known for children’s novels. For four different books published 1975-1980, she won two Newbery Medals and two National Book Awards. She is one of three people to win the two major international awards;
What was Katherine Patterson’s childhood like?
Until the arrival of WWII, Katherine Patterson’s childhood was, by all indications, an idyllic one. Katherine was born in 1932 in Jiangsu province in China to missionary parents. Her mother was from Georgia, while her father was a Virginian. For the first five years of her life, Katherine and her…
Does Jennifer Paterson still go to school?
On April 28, 2005, Paterson dedicated a tree in memory of Lisa Hill (her son David’s childhood friend who became the inspiration for Bridge to Terabithia) to Takoma Park Elementary School. Paterson still does school visits but chooses to stick to schools that are close to her Vermont home.
What has Jennifer Paterson done for Literature?
In January 2010, Paterson replaced Jon Scieszka as the Library of Congress National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, a two-year position created to raise national awareness of the importance of lifelong literacy and education. In 2011, Paterson gave the Annual Buechner Lecture at The Buechner Institute at her alma mater, King University .