Barbara Park April 27, 1947-November 15, 2013

Barbara’s Life Barbara was very passionate about supporting causes such as the Make-A-Wish Foundation and would dedicate her upcoming books to kids whose dying wish was to meet Barbara. Barbara also founded the Sisters in Survival (SIS) organization alongside her husband Richard. SIS is a nonprofit organization dedicated to offering financial assistance to ovarian cancer patients. Barbara has two sons, Steven and David, and two grandsons.

Barbara’s Life Continued Barbara Park arrived at the writing profession through an indirect route. Before becoming a bestselling and beloved children’s author, she originally intended to teach high school history and political science. She got her secondary education degree but quickly realized that her calling was to be a writer. She said, “My senior year of high school, I was voted ‘Wittiest.’ So several years later, I decided to try my hand at writing humor and see if I could be witty enough to make some money.”

Writing Career Barbara Park didn’t decide to become a writer till later in life after she got a degree in secondary education in history and political science. After getting a college degree she realized she wanted to be a writer. After several book rejections, Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers picked up her first document.

Writing Career Continued Barbara went on to write over fifty books, and has won over forty children’s book awards including several Children’s Choice Awards. Barbara is most famous for her Junie B. Jones novels.

Books by Barbara Park Almost Starring Skinny bones Beanpole Buddies Dear God, Help!!! Love, Earl Don't Make Me Smile The Graduation of Jake Moon The Kid in the Red Jacket Maxie, Rosie, and Earl - Partners in Grime Mick Harte Was Here My Mother Got Married (And Other Disasters) Operation: Dump the Chump Rosie Swanson: Fourth-Grade Geek for President Skinny bones Psssst! It's Me...the Bogeyman Ma! There's Nothing to Do Here! A Word from Your Baby-in-Waiting Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus Junie B. Jones and a Little Monkey Business Junie B. Jones and Her Big Fat Mouth Junie B. Jones and Some Sneaky Peeky Spying Junie B. Jones and the Yucky Blucky Fruitcake Junie B. Jones and That Meanie Jim's Birthday Junie B. Jones Loves Handsome Warren Junie B. Jones Has a Monster Under Her Bed Junie B. Jones Is Not a Crook Junie B. Jones Is a Party Animal Junie B. Jones Is a Beauty Shop Guy Junie B. Jones Smells Something Fishy Junie B. Jones Is (Almost) a Flower Girl Junie B. Jones and the Mushy Gushy Valentine Junie B. Jones Has a Peep in Her Pocket Junie B. Jones Is Captain Field Day Junie B. Jones Is a Graduation Girl Junie B., First Grader (at last!) Junie B., First Grader: Boss of Lunch Junie B., First Grader: Toothless Wonder Junie B., First Grader: Cheater Pants Junie B., First Grader: One-Man Band Junie B., First Grader: Shipwrecked Junie B., First Grader: BOO...and I MEAN It! Junie B., First Grader: Jingle Bells, Batman Smells! (P.S. So Does May.) Junie B., First Grader: Aloha-ha-ha! Junie B., First Grader: Dumb Bunny Junie B., First Grader: Turkeys We Have Loved and Eaten!(And Other Thankful Stuff)

Barbara Park’s Quotes “For 20 years I’ve gotten to laugh my way through my work,” she says. “For me, that’s a dream job.” “I had also begun to find myself quite amusing (though certainly not everyone agreed with me on that one),” "I don't have a problem being 6 years old in my head," Park once explained during an interview with barnesandnoble.com. "It's almost embarrassing; if I'm talking to librarians or teachers who know my books and they say, `How do you do this?' It's not a stretch. "I find that when I'm struggling to think of how a 6-year-old would feel about something, I just have to go right down to the common denominator, find the simplest way that you can look at an object or a problem, and not muck it up with all of the stuff that adults do and over-analyze," she said. Barbara said, "I've never been sure whether Junie B.'s fans love her in spite of her imperfections…or because of them. But either way, she's gone out into the world and made more friends than I ever dreamed possible."

Additional Information Barbara Park also just makes up her ideas! Barbara likes writing her books very much! It takes a couple of months to write a book, and sometimes two years (so don't go thinking that it's really easy to write one). Her favorite book is "Mick Harte Was Here.” Barbara died at the age of 66 from Ovarian cancer. She is beloved by millions as the author of the wildly popular, New York Times bestselling Junie B. Jones series. She won more than 40 children's book awards and she was been featured in The New York Times, USA Today, and Time magazine.

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