Darcy Pattison


Darcy S. Pattison is an American writer of fiction and nonfiction children's literature, a blogger, writing teacher, and indie publisher. Her books have been translated into eleven languages. Although she is best known for her work in children's literature, she is also a writing teacher traveling across the nation presenting her Novel Revision Retreat. She has been featured as a writer and writing teacher in prestigious publications such as Writing Young Adult Fiction For Dummies, and 2012 Writer's Market. Pattison is also an independent publisher of ebooks for adults in the educational market.
She is the 2007 recipient of the Arkansas Governor's Art Award for Individual Artist, and a member of the Authors Guild.

Personal life

Darcy Pattison is married and has four children. Her hobby is quilting. She is a member of International Quilters Association, American Quilters Society, Author's Guild, Arkansas Quilter's Guild. Exhibitions: Arkansas Art Center, Regional Craft Biennial, two times. Darcy's quilts have been shown nationally and her quilt, "Houses and Stars" is the cover quilt for the September, 1991 Quilting Today magazine. Twice her quilts hung in the seven-state, Regional Craft Biennial at the Arkansas Art Center and her award-winning quilt was in the Great Arkansas Quilt Show 2002; her daughter's wedding quilt hung in the Great Arkansas Quilt Show II, 2007–8.

Education

University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, B.A.; Kansas State University, M.A.

Works

Young Adult/Teen Fiction

  • The Blue Planets World Series
  • *Envoys, prequel
  • *Sleepers, Book 1
  • *Sirens, Book 2
  • *Pilgrims, Book 3

Fiction Novels for children

  • Got Me a Cat, illustrated by Kyle McBride.
  • Liberty
  • The Aliens, Inc. Series
  • *Kell, the Alien. Aliens, Inc. Series, Book 1. Illustrated by Rich Davis.
  • *Kell and the Horse Apple Parade. Aliens, Inc. Series, Book 2. Illustrated by Rich Davis.
  • *Kell and the Giants. Aliens, Inc. Series, Book 3. Illustrated by Rich Davis.
  • *Kell and the Detectives. Aliens, Inc. Series, Book 4. Illustrated by Rich Davis.
  • Longing for Normal Booklist Online Review
  • Gargoyle: A Tale of Two Miracles
  • Saucy and Bubba: A Hansel and Gretel Tale.
  • Vagabonds.
  • THE HEARTLAND SERIES
  • *The Wayfinder, a middle-grade fantasy novel. Winchal Eldras goes on a quest for healing both for himself and for his land. Reviewed in SLJ, Booklist, BCCB, Horn Book, VOYA and Locus. Translated into Spanish, El buscador de camino. State award reading lists:

Fiction Picture Books for Children

  • Finding Courage
  • Goldilocks, the Name Fame Dame
  • The Kittytubers Series
  • *When Kittens Go Viral, Book 1
  • *The Kitten Stars, Book 2
  • *Kittywood, Book 3
  • *Kitten Friends: Quincy's Story, Book 4
  • *Kitten Friends: PittyPat's Story, Book 5
  • The Read and Write Series
  • *I Want a Dog: My Opinion Essay, Book 1
  • *I Want a Cat: My Opinion Essay, Book 2
  • *My Crazy Dog: My Narrative Essay, Book 3
  • *My Dirty Dog: My Informative Essay, Book 3
  • "Rowdy, the Pirate Who Could Not Sleep"
  • 11 Ways to Ruin a Photograph: Winner of "The Help" Children's Story Contest. A girl decides it is not a family photo album while Dad is gone soldiering.
  • The Scary Slopes,. Snowboarding fun.
  • 19 Girls and Me,, illustrated by Steven Salerno, about friendship in a kindergarten class. Translated into Chinese, Arabic and German. Reviewed in Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, the School Library Journal, Childhood Education. Children's Book of the Month Club selection.
  • Searching for Oliver K. Woodman, a picture book illustrated by Joe Cepeda. When Oliver is missing for sixty days, his friends send Imogene Poplar, P.I.–a wooden woman–to find him. Reviewed in Kirkus, PW, BCCB, SLJ, Booklist. 2007-8 Arkansas Diamond Award Reading list.The Journey of Oliver K. Woodman, a picture book illustrated by Joe Cepeda. A wooden man travels across the United States to connect a family. Reviewed in PW, SLJ, BCCB, Booklist, and Horn Book. *Starred reviews in Kirkus and Canadian [Children's Book Centre|CCBC]. Booklist review Autumn 2003 Children's Booksense 76. Child and Nick Jr. Family Magazine Best Books of the Year 2003. Irma S. and James H. Black Picture Book Award Honor Book. Nutmeg Media Children's Picture Books on Video, June 2005; 2006 ALA Notable Video. 2008 Houghton Mifflin reading series. Paperback version, spring, 2009. The Journey of Oliver K. Woodman was adapted as a video by Nutmeg Media and was a 2006 ALA Notable Video.
  • The River Dragon, a picture book illustrated by Jean and Mou-sien Tseng, Translated into Swedish, Danish & Norwegian. ABA Pick of the Lists 1991. Reviewed by PW, SLJ, Childhood Education, Instructor Magazine.

Non fiction for children

  • Not Extinct: The Przewalski's Horse's Return from Extinct in the Wild
  • Be Strong: The Rise of the Beloved Public Arts Sculptor Nancy Schön, illustrated by Rich Davis,
  • I Am the Thirsty Desert, illustrated by Jordan Kim, Mims House, 2023. 2023 Eureka! Nonfiction Honor Book
  • George Washington's Engineer: How Rufus Putnam Won the Siege of Boston Without Firing a Shot, illustrated by Terry Kole,. 2024 Best STEM Book from National Science Teaching Association.
  • Field Notebooks: How Scientists Record and Write About Observations, A LITTLE BIT OF DINOSAUR SERIES
  • *A Little Bit of Dinosaur by Elleen Hutcheson and Darcy Pattison.
Starred Kirkus Review, 2021 Arkansiana Award, Eureka! Nonfiction Honor
  • *A Little Bit of This Dinosaur
  • *A Little Bit of That Dinosaur
  • The Wonder of Christmas: 25 Days of Advent Journaling for Girls, by Shanna Noel, with Darcy
Pattison.
  • MOMENTS IN SCIENCE series, illustrated by Peter Willis
  • *Burn: Michael Faraday's Candle, Korean rights to DaBom Publishing. Chinese rights to FLTRP.
  • *Clang! Ernst Chladni's Sound Figures.. 2019 NSTA Outstanding Science Trade Book. Korean rights to DaBom Publishing. Chinese rights to FLTRP.
  • *Pollen: Darwin's 130-year Prediction. Starred Kirkus review, Junior Library Guild selection, Eureka! Honor Book. 2020 NSTA Outstanding Science Trade Book. Korean rights to DaBom Publishing. Chinese rights to FLTRP.
  • *Eclipse: How the 1919 Solar Eclipse Proved Einstein's Theory of General Relativity. Korean rights to DaBom Publishing. Chinese rights to FLTRP.
  • *Erosion: How Hugh Bennett Saved America's Soil and Stopped the Dust Bowl. 2021 NSSTA Notable Social Studies Book. Korean rights to DaBom Publishing. Chinese rights to FLTRP.
  • *A.I. How Patterns Helped Artificial Intelligence Defeat World Champion Lee Sedol. Korean rights to DaBom Publishing. Chinese rights to FLTRP.
  • *FEVER: How Tu YouYou Adapted Traditional Chinese Medicine to Find a Cure for Malaria. Chinese rights to FLTRP.
  • *AQUARIUM: How Jeannette Powers Invented the Aquarium to Study Marine Animals. Chinese rights to FLTRP.
  • *MAGNET: How William Gilbert Discovered that the Earth is a Great Magnet. Chinese rights to FLTRP.
  • *CLIMATE: How Vladimir Koppen Studied Weather and Drew the First Climate Maps
  • The Nantucket Sea Monster: A Fake News Story. Illustrated by Peter Willis, Mims House 2017. Junior Library
Guild Selection, 2018 NCTE Notable Children's Book in Language Arts. Korean Rights to Darim Publishing.
Workbook for science notebooks, Spring 2017. With Photos from the Smithsonian.
  • ANOTHER EXTRAORDINARY ANIMAL SERIES
  • *Jeremy, the English Garden Snail, illustrated by Olga Gonina,
  • *Pelorus Jack, the New Zealand Porpoise, illustrated by Eva Dooley,
  • *Diego, the Galapagos Giant Tortoise: Saving a Species from Extinction, illustrated by Amanda Zimmerman,. Starred Kirkus Review.
  • *Rosie the Ribeter: The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County. Illustrated by Nathaniel Gold,.
  • *Nefertiti, the Spidernaut: How a Jumping Spider Learned to Hunt in Space. Illustrated by Valeria Tisnes,. Alabama Camellia Children's Choice Book Award 2016-17 List. 2017 NSTA Outstanding Science Trade Book.
  • *Abayomi, the Brazilian Puma: The True Story of an Orphaned Cub Illustrated by Kitty Harvill,. 2015 NSTA Outstanding Science Trade Book. Translated into Portuguese/Brazil.
  • *Wisdom, the Midway Albatross. Illustrated by Kitty Harvill.,. Starred review in Publishers Weekly. Interviewed by Laurie Thompson.Desert Baths. 24-hours of baths by desert animals. It was named a 2013 Outstanding Science Trade Book by the NSTA and CBC Reviewed in Kirkus.Prairie Storms. A year of storms for the prairie animals. Reviewed in Kirkus, BookLoons, and SLJ.

Non fiction for adults

  • Publish: Find Surprising Success Self-Publishing Your Children's Book,
  • Writing for the Common Core: Writing, Speaking and Listening Activities Aligned with the Common Core Start Your Novel: Six Winning Steps Toward a Compelling Opening Line, Scene and Chapter.What is Common Core?.Common Core ELA Activities: Month by Month Writing, Speaking and Listening Activities Aligned with the Common Core,.Paper Lightning: Sparking Student Brainstorming for Effective Pre-writing. A teacher-resource book about pre-writing strategies.Novel Metamorphosis: Uncommon Ways to Revise. A novel revision workbook.

Ebooks for adults

How to Write a Children's Picture Book
  • ''The Book Trailer Manual''

Speaker

Pattison has presented at the National Teachers of English national conference, the American Library Association national conference, the Society of Children's Bookwriters and Illustrators national conferences and numerous local and regional conference. In 1999, she created the Novel Revision retreat and has taught it across the United States. She participated in the 2012 and 2013 Authors for Earth Day program.