Robie Harris | |
---|---|
Born | Robie Heilbrun April 3, 1940 Buffalo, New York, U.S. |
Died | January 6, 2024 New York City, U.S. | (aged 83)
Occupation | Children's book author |
Notable works |
It's Perfectly Normal It's so Amazing |
Relatives | Elizabeth Levy (cousin) |
Robie Harris ( née Heilbrun; April 3, 1940 – January 6, 2024) was an American author. She wrote more than 30 children's books, including the frequently challenged It's Perfectly Normal (1994) and It's so Amazing (1999). [1] [2]
Robie Heilbrun was born in Buffalo, New York on April 3, 1940. [3] [4] Her mother worked in a biology laboratory, while her father was a radiologist. [5] She grew up attending a Reform synagogue in Buffalo. [6] She became interested in writing at a young age, and began writing stories in kindergarten. [7] In high school, she was an editor of her school's newspaper. [7] She graduated from Wheaton College, where she served as editor of the school's yearbook, with a bachelor's degree in English in 1962. [7] [8] She went on to graduate from the Bank Street College of Education with a master's in teaching in 1966. [7] [8]
After earning her teaching degree in 1966, Harris became an English elementary school teacher at the Bank Street School for Children. While working with children at the school's after-school Head Start program, she headed a project allowing the students to film the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood through their eyes. With the help of filmmaker Philip Courter, the students' footage was compiled into a film, Child’s Eye View. In 1968, the film was screened at the Lincoln Center Film Festival. [7]
Harris collaborated with multiple writers through the Bank Street Writers’ Laboratory, of which she was a member. [7]
In 1977, Harris released her first book, Before You Were Three: How You Began to Walk, Talk, Explore, and Have Feelings, which she co-wrote with her friend and cousin Elizabeth Levy. The book was inspired by the birth of her first child, and her nieces' and nephews' reaction to him. [7]
Harris wrote several children's books about childbirth and human sexuality, including It's Perfectly Normal and It's so Amazing, two of the American Library Association's most-challenged books of the 21st century. Harris continued to update the two books, as well as the third in the trio, It's NOT the Stork!, up until her death. [7]
Harris was a board member of the National Coalition Against Censorship for 20 years. [9]
She won the 2019 Mathical Book Prize for her book Crash! Boom! A Math Tale. [10]
In 2020, Harris received the inaugural Mills Tannenbaum Award for Children’s Literacy from Reach Out and Read of Greater New York. [11]
Harris lived in New York City beginning in the 1960s, and was roommates with her cousin, novelist Elizabeth Levy, beginning in 1964. [7]
She married William W. Harris, whom she met during an interview on her Child's Eye View film project. [7] The couple had two sons. [4] [7]
She died at a hospital in Manhattan, on January 6, 2024, at the age of 83. [4]
Media related to Robie Harris at Wikimedia Commons
Robie Harris | |
---|---|
Born | Robie Heilbrun April 3, 1940 Buffalo, New York, U.S. |
Died | January 6, 2024 New York City, U.S. | (aged 83)
Occupation | Children's book author |
Notable works |
It's Perfectly Normal It's so Amazing |
Relatives | Elizabeth Levy (cousin) |
Robie Harris ( née Heilbrun; April 3, 1940 – January 6, 2024) was an American author. She wrote more than 30 children's books, including the frequently challenged It's Perfectly Normal (1994) and It's so Amazing (1999). [1] [2]
Robie Heilbrun was born in Buffalo, New York on April 3, 1940. [3] [4] Her mother worked in a biology laboratory, while her father was a radiologist. [5] She grew up attending a Reform synagogue in Buffalo. [6] She became interested in writing at a young age, and began writing stories in kindergarten. [7] In high school, she was an editor of her school's newspaper. [7] She graduated from Wheaton College, where she served as editor of the school's yearbook, with a bachelor's degree in English in 1962. [7] [8] She went on to graduate from the Bank Street College of Education with a master's in teaching in 1966. [7] [8]
After earning her teaching degree in 1966, Harris became an English elementary school teacher at the Bank Street School for Children. While working with children at the school's after-school Head Start program, she headed a project allowing the students to film the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood through their eyes. With the help of filmmaker Philip Courter, the students' footage was compiled into a film, Child’s Eye View. In 1968, the film was screened at the Lincoln Center Film Festival. [7]
Harris collaborated with multiple writers through the Bank Street Writers’ Laboratory, of which she was a member. [7]
In 1977, Harris released her first book, Before You Were Three: How You Began to Walk, Talk, Explore, and Have Feelings, which she co-wrote with her friend and cousin Elizabeth Levy. The book was inspired by the birth of her first child, and her nieces' and nephews' reaction to him. [7]
Harris wrote several children's books about childbirth and human sexuality, including It's Perfectly Normal and It's so Amazing, two of the American Library Association's most-challenged books of the 21st century. Harris continued to update the two books, as well as the third in the trio, It's NOT the Stork!, up until her death. [7]
Harris was a board member of the National Coalition Against Censorship for 20 years. [9]
She won the 2019 Mathical Book Prize for her book Crash! Boom! A Math Tale. [10]
In 2020, Harris received the inaugural Mills Tannenbaum Award for Children’s Literacy from Reach Out and Read of Greater New York. [11]
Harris lived in New York City beginning in the 1960s, and was roommates with her cousin, novelist Elizabeth Levy, beginning in 1964. [7]
She married William W. Harris, whom she met during an interview on her Child's Eye View film project. [7] The couple had two sons. [4] [7]
She died at a hospital in Manhattan, on January 6, 2024, at the age of 83. [4]
Media related to Robie Harris at Wikimedia Commons