|
Cynthia Rylant (born June 6, 1954) is an American author and librarian. She has written more than 100 children's books, including works of fiction (picture books, short stories and novels), nonfiction, and poetry. Several of her books have won awards, including her novel ''Missing May'', which won the 1993 Newbery Medal, and ''A Fine White Dust'' which was a 1987 Newbery Honor book. Two of her books are Caldecott Honor Books. Many of Rylant's books are about her childhood in Appalachia, her pets, the joys and hardships of family life, and the feelings of loners. Many of her books are written in series. == Early life == Rylant was born in Hopewell, West Virginia, the daughter of a U.S. Army veteran, John Tune Smith, and Leatrel Smith ''nee'' Rylant. Rylant uses her mother's maiden name as her pen name.〔Smucker, Anna Egan. ("Cynthia Rylant" ), ''West Virginia Encyclopedia'', West Virginia Humanities Council, June 11, 2013〕 She spent her first four years in Illinois.〔("Cynthia Rylant (1954-) Biography" ), Jrank, 2005, accessed July 18, 2013〕 Her parents separated when she was four years old, and she was sent to live with her mother's parents in Cool Ridge, West Virginia, while her mother attended nursing school and was able to visit her only a few times a year.〔("Cynthia Rylant" ), Annie Merner Pfeiffer Library at West Virginia Wesleyan College, accessed February 11, 2013〕〔Antonucci, Ron. "A Talk with 1993 Newbery Medallist Cynthia Rylant", ''School Library Journal'', May 1993, p. 26〕 Growing up in the Appalachian region of the U.S. during the 1960s, Rylant lived in a very depressed economic environment. Her grandparents, extended family and kind local townspeople provided a loving, nurturing, safe environment, while the little girl "waited ... until someone could return for me",〔 but they were very poor and lived a rustic life, with no electricity, running water or automobile. As a result, she never saw children's books as a child, reading mainly comic books and enjoying the outdoors.〔〔 Four years later, she moved back with her mother, who had relocated to nearby Beaver, West Virginia. She never saw her father again, and he died when she was thirteen years old. She later wrote, "I did not have a chance to know him or to say goodbye to him, and that is all the loss I needed to become a writer."〔Rylant (1993), chapter 2〕 When she was nine years old, Rylant fell in love with Paul McCartney and The Beatles. She was not exposed to many books as a child. There were no libraries or bookstores in Cool Ridge or Beaver, so most of her reading was comic books.〔Rylant (1994), pp. 193–199〕 However her childhood was the major influence on her works, and most of them deal with life in the Appalachian region.〔〔("Cynthia Rylant" ), Greater Dayton Public Television, 2004, accessed February 11, 2013〕 A few years later, Rylant became enchanted with Robert Kennedy, whom she met during his presidential campaign. She was deeply affected by his assassination and by an emotional teenage relationship with a boy from school.〔 Rylant earned a B.A. degree from Morris Harvey College (now the University of Charleston) in 1975 and a M.A. degree from Marshall University in 1976, discovering and studying English literature and greatly enjoying her years in school.〔 In 1977, she married Kevin Dolin.〔(McGinty, pp. 41, 59 and 76 )〕 Unable to find a job in her field after completing college, she first worked as a waitress and later as a librarian at the Cabell County Public Library in Huntington, West Virginia, where she finally became acquainted with children's books.〔 She taught English part-time at Marshall University in 1979 and wrote her first book, ''When I Was Young in the Mountains'',〔 which she published in 1982, based on her experiences as a young child living in the country with her grandparents. The picture book, which Rylant later said took her an hour to complete, earned an American Book Award in 1982 and was a Caldecott Honor Book. Her marriage with Dolin ended in 1980,〔 and she earned a Masters degree in Library Science from Kent State University in 1981 and lived in Kent, Ohio for many years,〔〔 where she worked as a librarian at the Cincinnati Public Library and then the Akron Public Library, and taught English part-time at the University of Akron.〔 During the early 1980s she was also married briefly to a professor who taught at the University of Akron.〔〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Cynthia Rylant」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|