55 Facts About Barbara Park

Barbara Lynne Park was an American author of children's books.

Barbara Park is most well known for writing the Junie B Jones series of chapter books.

Barbara Park has written several middle grade and young adult books, including Skinnybones, Mick Harte Was Here, and The Graduation of Jake Moon.

Barbara Park did not allow adaptations of her works except for stage plays.

Originally intending to become a high school teacher, Barbara Park abandoned the idea after an unpleasant semester as a student teacher.

Barbara Park moved across the country as her husband traveled for Air Force training before they settled in Arizona.

Barbara Park began writing Junie B Jones in 1992, which proved highly popular, and she continued writing the series for the rest of her life.

Barbara Park became active in advocacy for the use of bicycle helmets after a child died of a bicycle accident in her neighborhood in 1993, and this made up the plot of Mick Harte Was Here.

Barbara Park Lynne Tidswell was born in Mount Holly, New Jersey, on April 21,1947.

Barbara Park's father was Brooke Tidswell Jr, a banker, the local board of education president, and the owner of a home improvement store.

Barbara Park's mother, Doris Tidswell, was a high school library secretary.

Barbara Park hoped to be on the television show The Mickey Mouse Club.

Barbara Park did not take interest in the school's social environment or clubs, and she returned to her parents' home each weekend.

Barbara Park was taken aback by the much larger campus than she was accustomed to at her small college.

Barbara Park was given no guidance by the teacher she was training under and found the experience unpleasant.

Barbara Park was introduced to Richard Park by her roommate in their final year at Alabama University, and they became friends before starting a romantic relationship.

Barbara Park raised their children while Richard became a real estate broker.

Barbara Park thought about seeking a profession once her children were both in school.

Barbara Park began writing as a way to express her sense of humor.

Barbara Park decided that she would try writing for two years, and if it did not work for her, then she would get a master's degree in counseling.

Barbara Park realized that she wanted to write children's book after reading Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume.

The first children's book Barbara Park sent to publishers was Operation: Dump the Chump.

Barbara Park wrote the manuscript in three months, writing on a typewriter each morning at a card table in her bedroom.

Barbara Park then purchased a copy of the Writer's Market for help with publishing the book.

Barbara Park decided that this was an important topic to write about after her friend, who was going through a divorce, expressed a wish that there were more books like this to help children cope with it.

Barbara Park was then contacted by editor in chief Pat Ross, who told her she had "a home" at the publisher.

Barbara Park published Beanpole, about a girl in middle school, in 1983.

Barbara Park then published Buddies in 1985, which follows a young girl as she discovers that her actions can hurt others.

Barbara Park received the Texas Bluebonnet Award the same year, which helped her develop a reputation in the literary industry.

Barbara Park wrote The Kid in the Red Jacket about being a new student and published it in 1987.

Barbara Park then wrote another sequel for one of her books in 1989, following Don't Make Me Smile with My Mother Got Married to show the child of divorced parents learning to accept step-siblings.

Barbara Park began a new series of three books, The Geek Chronicles, in 1990.

Barbara Park was deeply affected by the death of a child in her neighborhood in 1993, when he was struck by a school bus while riding home from school on a bicycle.

Barbara Park began writing Mick Harte Was Here as an outlet for her thoughts.

Barbara Park worked on the book over the following two years, but she found it difficult to write it at the same time as the more lighthearted Junie B Jones series.

Barbara Park considered this her favorite of the books she wrote.

Barbara Park lobbied the Arizona State Legislature to pass a bicycle helmet law for children, but it rejected her proposal.

Barbara Park had doubts about the potential of Mick Harte Was Here, believing that the more serious subject matter would turn away her usual audience, and she asked for a smaller advance than she usually took, but she went on her first book tour after it was well received among the publishing staff.

Barbara Park worked with Bell Helmets, which gave away bicycle helmets to those attending tour events.

Barbara Park published a new edition of Skinnybones in 1997, replacing references that had become outdated.

Barbara Park returned to more serious subject matter in 2000 with a story about Alzheimer's disease, The Graduation of Jake Moon, that followed a teenage boy as his grandfather was increasingly affected by the disease.

Barbara Park published Junie B Jones Personal Beeswax in 2003.

Barbara Park wrote her final Junie B Jones book, Turkeys We Have Loved and Eaten, in 2012.

Barbara Park was private and did not seek celebrity status, though she sometimes met children through the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Barbara Park refused to allow adaptations of her work outside of stage plays because she wished to be involved with any adaptation personally, and plays were the only type she felt she had time for.

Barbara Park licensed Junie B Jones to Imagination Stage and TheatreWorksUSA, where she participated in creating stage adaptations of her stories.

Barbara Park once tried to have Beanpole turned into a television series, but this was unsuccessful.

Barbara Park was afflicted with ovarian cancer, which she had for approximately seven years.

Barbara Park died on November 15,2013, in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Barbara Park drew from her experiences as a mother and her semester as a student teacher when describing children and classroom environments, and she used memories of her own mindset as a child when developing the personalities of her characters.

Barbara Park was raised in a supportive home and never saw her parents fight, and this held true for all of her characters.

Barbara Park did not write out detailed plots before she began writing, instead working "by the seat of [her] pants".

Barbara Park found the initial writing process difficult and got more enjoyment on working through rewrites and refinement.

Barbara Park developed a reputation for dealing with serious subject matter in a lighthearted way.

Barbara Park rejected the idea that children's books must always teach morals, instead seeing simple entertainment as a legitimate purpose for a children's book.