Ted Kooser: More Than a Local Wonder - Hardcover

by Carla Ketner (Author)

Named a Best New Children's Book of 2023 by NCompass Live

Long before Ted Kooser won a Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, served as the U.S. Poet Laureate, and wrote award-winning books for children, he was an unathletic child growing up in Iowa, yearning to fit in. Young Teddy found solace in stories, and one specific book, Robert McCloskey's Lentil, inspired him to become a writer. As a child and later, while working in the insurance industry, Ted honed his craft and unique style as he wrote about the people and places of the rural Midwest. Ted Kooser: More Than a Local Wonder celebrates the power of stories and of finding oneself through words.

Author Biography

Carla Ketner is the owner and manager of Chapters Books & Gifts in Seward, Nebraska. She is a former elementary school teacher and instructor of college-level children's literature courses. Ted Kooser: More Than a Local Wonder is her first picture book. When not reading, writing, or connecting readers with books, she is likely to be walking her grand-dog, looking up the names of local wildflowers, baking anything that lists chocolate as an ingredient, or traveling with friends and family. She and her husband have two grown sons.

Paula Wallace is an artist and illustrator, spending most days in her studio at the Hot Shops Art Center in Omaha, Nebraska. She has helped many authors tell their stories with her illustrations and has written and illustrated her own books, including Choose Your Days (Nebraska Children's Picture Book Award winner) and Mr. Reginald and the Bunnies. Wallace employs her love of stories in arts outreach and community engagement. Her work as a fine artist has appeared in many exhibits in the United States and Italy and is held in public and private collections internationally.