Linda Granfield

Last updated
Linda Granfield
Born (1950-11-22) November 22, 1950 (age 73)
Medford, Massachusetts
CitizenshipUnited States of America
Canada
Education
Notable awards Vicky Metcalf Award (2009)
SpouseCal Smiley (1978–present)
Children2

Linda Granfield (born November 22, 1950, in Medford) [1] is an American-Canadian writer of nearly thirty nonfiction children's books. [2] In 2001, she received the Vicky Metcalf Award for Literature for Young People, an honour bestowed by the Writers' Trust of Canada to a writer or illustrator whose body of work has been "inspirational to Canadian youth". [3]

Contents

Personal life and education

Granfield was born November 22, 1950, in Medford, Massachusetts, [4] to Joseph J. and Barbara H. (née Boyd) Granfield. [1] She had a younger brother who died when she was in the fifth grade. [4]

Granfield studied at Oxford University in 1971 before transferring to Salem State College, where she received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1972, [1] having majored in English with a double minor in Education and French. [4] She received a Master of Arts degree in English from Northeastern University in 1974. [1] [4] Later that year, she moved to Canada to begin her doctoral studies at the University of Toronto, [1] [5] where she studied Victorian literature for two years. [4]

While at the University of Toronto, Granfield met Cal Smiley, whom she married in 1978. [1] She has two children: Devon Marie and Brian Lindsay. [1]

Granfield is a dual-citizen in the United States and Canada. [1] [4]

Career

While at a Canadian Booksellers Association conference, Granfield was approached by a representative from Kids Can Press, who asked, "When are you going to stop writing ABOUT children's books and write one yourself?" [4] Based on this interaction, she decided to write her first children's book, All about Niagara Falls, which was published in 1988. She has since written nearly thirty children's books, which have won her numerous local and national awards.

Aside from writing, Granfield has been influential in various historical and factual endeavors, including being a consultant for various documentary films. [6] Along with being "a historical adviser for the Royal Canadian Air Force," [6] she was "a member of the 'In Flanders Fields at 100' task force that successfully nominated John McCrae for membership in the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame." [6]

Awards and honors

In 2001, Granfield received the Vicky Metcalf Award for Literature for Young People, an honour bestowed by the Writers' Trust of Canada to a writer or illustrator whose body of work has been "inspirational to Canadian youth". [3]

I Remember Korea is a Junior Library Guild book. [7]

Awards for Granfield's writing
YearTitleAwardResultRef.
1994Cowboy Information Book Award Winner [5] [8]
1995In Flanders FieldsIODE Jean Throop Book AwardWinner [2] [5] [9]
1996In Flanders Fields Information Book Award Winner [5] [10]
1997Silent Night Alcuin Society Awards for Excellence in Book Design in CanadaWinner [2] [11]
1998In Flanders FieldsRed Cedar Book AwardWinner [12]
2001Pier 21 Information Book Award Honour [2]
2001Pier 21 Norma Fleck Award Finalist [2]
2002Where Poppies Grow Information Book Award Winner [13]
2009Remembering John McCraeIODE Jean Throop Book AwardWinner [14] [15]

Selected texts

"The Year I Was Born" series

"The Year I Was Born" books are illustrated by Bill Slavin and Kids Can Press.

Related Research Articles

Margaret Buffie is a Canadian young adult fiction writer.

The Vicky Metcalf Award for Literature for Young People, colloquially called the Vicky, is given annually at the Writers' Trust Awards to a writer or illustrator whose body of work has been "inspirational to Canadian youth". It is a top honour for Canadian children's writers and Canadian children's book illustrators.

Kathleen Margaret "Kit" Pearson is a Canadian writer and winner of numerous literature awards. Pearson wrote the linked novels The Sky Is Falling (1989), Looking at the Moon (1991), and The Lights Go on Again (1993), published in 1999 as The Guests of War Trilogy, and Awake and Dreaming (1996), which won the 1997 Governor General's Award for English-language children's literature. She was appointed to the Order of Canada in 2019.

Polly Horvath is an American-Canadian author of novels for children and young adults. She won the 2003 U.S. National Book Award for Young People's Literature for The Canning Season, published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. In 2010, Horvath received the Vicky Metcalf Award for Literature for Young People.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deborah Ellis</span> Canadian fiction writer and activist

Deborah Ellis is a Canadian fiction writer and activist. Her themes are often concerned with the sufferings of persecuted children in the Third World.

Budge Marjorie Wilson was a Canadian writer. She was noted for her work in children's literature.

Sarah Ellis is a Canadian children's writer and librarian. She has been a librarian in Toronto and Vancouver. She has also written reviews for Quill and Quire. She taught writing at the Vermont College of Fine Arts and is a masthead reviewer for The Horn Book.

Cary Fagan is a Canadian writer of novels, short stories, and children's books. His novel, The Student, was a finalist for the Toronto Book Award and the Governor General's Literary Award. Previously a short-story collection, My Life Among the Apes, was longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize and his widely praised adult novel, A Bird's Eye, was shortlisted for the 2013 Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize. His novel Valentine's Fall was nominated for the 2010 Toronto Book Award. Since publishing his first original children's book in 2001, he has published 25 children's titles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Bedard</span> Canadian childrens writer

Michael Bedard is a Canadian children's writer. He was born and raised in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He graduated from the University of Toronto in 1971 with a BA in philosophy and English. He began writing when his former high school teacher showed him works of Emily Dickinson and T. S. Eliot. Bedard currently lives in Toronto with his wife Martha. He has four children and six grandchildren.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Linda Holeman</span> Canadian author

Linda Holeman is a Canadian author of fiction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Jacobson</span> Canadian artist, illustrator, and childrens writer

Richard Allen "Rick" Jacobson is a Canadian artist, illustrator, and writer who uses the names Richard A. Jacobson and Rick Jacobson professionally.

Kyo Maclear is a Canadian novelist and children's author.

Claire Mackay was a Canadian writer of eleven books for children and young-adult fiction and non-fiction.

Susin Nielsen is a Canadian author for children, adolescent and young adults. She received the 2012 Governor General's Award for English-language children's literature and the 2013 Canadian Library Association Book of the Year for Children Award for her young adult novel The Reluctant Journal of Henry K. Larsen, which deals with the aftermath of a school shooting.

Maxine Trottier is an American-born Canadian educator and writer.

Barbara Reid is a Canadian illustrator and author of children's books. She has been called "one of Canada's major literary figures". In 2012, she received the Vicky Metcalf Award for Literature for Young People, an honour presented annually to a writer or illustrator whose body of work has been "inspirational to Canadian youth".

Barbara Greenwood is a Canadian educator and author of children's books. She has served as president of the Canadian Society of Children's Authors, Illustrators and Performers (CANSCAIP).

Linda Bailey is a Canadian author who has written dozens of books for children, including Mary Who Wrote Frankenstein, and the Stevie Diamond mystery series. In 2021, she received the Vicky Metcalf Award for Literature for Young People, an honour bestowed by the Writers' Trust of Canada to Canadian writers and illustrators whose work has been "inspirational to Canadian youth".

Marthe Jocelyn is a Canadian writer of over forty children's books. In 2009, she received the Vicky Metcalf Award for Literature for Young People, an honour bestowed by the Writers' Trust of Canada to a writer or illustrator whose body of work has been "inspirational to Canadian youth".

Charis Cotter is a Canadian author and storyteller known for her works of fiction for middle-grade readers.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Granfield, Linda 1950-". Encyclopedia.com . Retrieved 2023-05-13.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Linda Granfield". The Writers' Union of Canada . Retrieved 2023-05-13.
  3. 1 2 "Vicky Metcalf Award for Children's Literature Archives". Canadian Children's Book Centre . Archived from the original on 2023-05-12. Retrieved 2023-05-12.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "CM Magazine Profile: Linda Granfield". Canadian Review of Materials. Retrieved 2023-05-13.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Linda Granfield". Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 2023-05-13.
  6. 1 2 3 "Linda Granfield". The Canadian Encyclopedia . Retrieved 2023-05-13.
  7. ↑ "I Remember Korea: Veterans Tell Their Stories by Linda Granfield". Junior Library Guild . Retrieved 2023-05-13.
  8. ↑ "1994 Information Book Award Recipient: Linda Granfield". Canadian Children's Book Centre . Retrieved 2023-05-13.
  9. ↑ "1995 IODE Book Award, Municipal Chapter of Toronto Recipient: Linda Granfield (Author) and Janet Wilson (Illustrator)". Canadian Children's Book Centre. Retrieved 2023-05-13.
  10. ↑ "1996 Information Book Award Recipient: Linda Granfield". Canadian Children's Book Centre. Retrieved 2023-05-13.
  11. ↑ "1997 Alcuin Society Awards for Excellence in Book Design in Canada Recipient: Linda Granfield". Canadian Children's Book Centre . Retrieved 2023-05-13.
  12. ↑ "1998 Red Cedar Book Award Recipient: Linda Granfield". Canadian Children's Book Centre . Retrieved 2023-05-13.
  13. ↑ "2002 Information Book Award Recipient: Linda Granfield". Canadian Children's Book Centre. Retrieved 2023-05-13.
  14. ↑ "2009 IODE Book Award, Municipal Chapter of Toronto Recipient: Linda Granfield". Canadian Children's Book Centre. Retrieved 2023-05-13.
  15. ↑ "IODE Toronto Book Award presented to Linda Granfield". Canadian Children's Book Centre. 2010-04-19. Retrieved 2023-05-13.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.