Carmen Agra Deedy is an

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

children’s literature Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the intended age of the reader. Children's ...

, storyteller and

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmi ...

contributor.

Early life

Born in Havana, Cuba, she migrated to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

with her family in 1963 after the

Cuban Revolution The Cuban Revolution ( es, Revolución Cubana) was carried out after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état which placed Fulgencio Batista as head of state and the failed mass strike in opposition that followed. After failing to contest Batista in co ...

. Deedy grew up in Decatur, Georgia.

Storyteller

As a storyteller, Deedy has performed across the United States and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

including the Disney Institute, the

New Victory Theater The New Victory Theater is a theater at 209 West 42nd Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, near Times Square. Built in 1900 as the Republic Theatre (also Theatre Republic), it was designed by Albert Westover an ...

, the

Folger Shakespeare Library The Folger Shakespeare Library is an independent research library on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., United States. It has the world's largest collection of the printed works of William Shakespeare, and is a primary repository for rare materi ...

and the

Kennedy Center The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (formally known as the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, and commonly referred to as the Kennedy Center) is the United States National Cultural Center, located on the Potom ...

as well as numerous

storytelling festival A storytelling festival is an event that features local, regional and/or nationally known oral storytellers. Each storyteller will have a scheduled amount of time to share a story (or stories) with an audience. The featured storytellers are often p ...

s including the St. Louis Storytelling Festival, the Athens Storytelling Festival, the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival, the Southern Ohio Storytelling Festival and as a Featured Teller at the

National Storytelling Festival The National Storytelling Festival is held the first full weekend of October in Jonesborough, Tennessee at the International Storytelling Center. The National Storytelling Festival was founded by Jimmy Neil Smith, a high school journalism teache ...

. She delivered the 2010 commencement address for the women's college of Brenau University in Gainesville, Georgia, where she was also awarded an

honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...

Children’s books

English

Deedy is the author of nine children’s books written in English, with two titles published in Spanish. All of her books were published by Peachtree Publishers. They are listed below. Some with the honors they have received. * '' TreeMan'' ( Douglas J. Ponte, illustrator), October 1993 ** 1993 Georgia Author of the Year for

Juvenile Literature Juvenile may refer to: *Juvenile status, or minor (law), prior to adulthood * Juvenile (organism) *Juvenile (rapper) (born 1975), American rapper * ''Juvenile'' (2000 film), Japanese film * ''Juvenile'' (2017 film) *Juvenile (greyhounds), a greyh ...

* '' Agatha's Feather Bed: Not Just Another Wild Goose Story'' ( Laura L. Seeley, illustrator), September 1994 * '' The Library Dragon'' ( Michael P. White, illustrator), October, 1994 ** 1997 Flicker Tale Children's Book Award Honor Book ** 1997-1998

Children's Book Award Children's Book Award is a generic term that has been applied to: * Caldecott Medal, Caldecott Medal, annual "most distinguished American picture book for children" * Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award from the Vermont Department of Lib ...

( Honor Book), Florida Reading Association ** 2002 Volunteer State Book Award (master list) ** 2003 Selected book for GA for

National Book Festival The National Book Festival is a literary festival in the United States organized and sponsored by the Library of Congress, founded by Laura Bush and James H. Billington in 2001. Background In 1995 the First Lady of Texas Laura Bush (a former ...

by GA Center for the Book ** Georgia Top 25 Reading List, Georgia Center for the Book * '' The Last Dance'' ( Debrah Santini, illustrator), September, 1995 * '' The Yellow Star: The Legend of King Christian X of Denmark'' ( Henri Sorensen, illustrator), September 2000 ** 2000 Parent's Choice Gold Award ** 2000 Best Bets for the Classroom, Virginia Center for Children's Books ** 2000 Parent's Guide to Children's Media Award ** 2001 Book Sense 76,

Book Sense IndieBound is a marketing movement for independent bookstores launched in 2008 by the American Booksellers Association. With resources targeted for "indie" booksellers, it promotes fiscal localism. IndieBound's curated reading lists include the I ...

** 2001 Bologna Ragazzi Award ** 2001

Christopher Award The Christopher Award (established 1949) is presented to the producers, directors, and writers of books, films and television specials that "affirm the highest values of the human spirit". It is given by The Christophers, a Christian organization ...

(books for young people) ** 2001 ABC Children's Booksellers' Choices (non-fiction),

Association of Booksellers for Children The American Booksellers Association (ABA) is a non-profit trade association founded in 1900 that promotes independent bookstores in the United States. ABA's core members are key participants in their communities' local economy and culture, and to ...

** 2001 Notable Children's Books of Jewish Content, Association of Jewish Libraries ** 2001 Jane Addams Peace Association Honor Book Award ** 2001 Children's Literature Choice List (short books or picture books with more text than usual for younger readers) ** 2001 Notable Books for a Global Society,

IRA Ira or IRA may refer to: *Ira (name), a Hebrew, Sanskrit, Russian or Finnish language personal name *Ira (surname), a rare Estonian and some other language family name *Iran, UNDP code IRA Law *Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, US, on status of ...

** 2001 Teachers' Choices (Intermediate Category),

** 2001 Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People (Selector's Choice), NCSS/ Children's Book Council ** 2001 Combined Book Exhibit: Children's Books Mean Business, Children's Book Council ** 2002-2003 Texas Bluebonnet Master List ** 2001 Teacher's Choice,

International Reading Association The International Literacy Association (ILA), formerly the International Reading Association (IRA), is an international global advocacy and member professional organization that was created in 1956 to improve reading instruction, facilitate dialo ...

** Selector's Choice, 2001 Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People ** 2001 Notable Books for a Global Society,

** 2001 Storytelling World Awards Stories for Adolescent Listeners ** 2002 National Literary Association of England WOW! Award ** 2002-2003 Texas Bluebonnet Award (Master List) ** 2003-2004 Land of Enchantment Book Awards (Master List) * '' The Secret of Old Zeb'' ( Michael P. White, illustrator), September 2002 ** Award of Merit, Southern Books Competition, Southeastern Library Association * '' Martina the Beautiful Cockroach: A Cuban Folktale'' ( Michael Austin, illustrator), September 2007 ** 2007 Cybils (nominee, fiction picture books) ** 2008

Pura Belpré Award The Pura Belpré Award is a recognition presented to a Latino or Latina author and illustrator whose work best portrays the Latino cultural experience in a work of literature for children or youth. It was established in 1996. It was given every oth ...

(Honor) ** 2008 Best Children's Books of the Year,

Bank Street College of Education Bank Street College of Education is a private school and graduate school in New York City. It consists of a graduate-only teacher training college and an independent nursery-through-8th-grade school. In 2020 the graduate school had about 65 full ...

** 2008 Society of School Librarians International Book Awards (honor book,

Language Arts Language arts (also known as English language arts or ELA) is the study and improvement of the arts of language. Traditionally, the primary divisions in language arts are literature and language, where language in this case refers to both lingu ...

picture books) ** 2008 Irma Simonton and James H. Black Award for the Best Picture Book of the Year (honor book) ** 2008 Kansas State Reading Circle Recommended Reading List (Primary, starred) ** 2008 Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People, NCSS/ Children's Book Council ** 2008 International Latino Book Awards ( Best Children's Picture Book, English), Latino Book & Family Festival, Latino Literacy Now ** 2008 Americas Award for Children's and Young Adult Literature (commended title), National Consortium of Latin American Studies Programs (CLASP) ** 2008-2009

, Florida Reading Association ** 2009 Storytelling World Resource Awards (winner, Stories for Young Listeners) ** 2009 Read On Wisconsin! (primary age group) ** 2009-2010 Volunteer State Book Awards (master list, K-3) ** 2009-2010 Texas Bluebonnet Award (Master List) ** 2011 California Young Reader Medal (Primary) * '' 14 Cows for America'' ( Thomas Gonzalez, illustrator. Wilson Kimeli Naiyomah, afterword), 2009 ** 2010-2011 Texas Bluebonnet Award (Master List) * '' The Cheshire Cheese Cat: A Dickens of a Tale'' - coauthor

Randall Wright Randall D. Wright (born August 4, 1956) is a Canadian academic macroeconomist who advanced the fields of monetary economics and labor economics through his role in the development of matching theory. Biography Wright obtained a B.A. in Econ ...

( Barry Moser illustrator) 2011 * ''The Rooster Who Would Not Be Quiet!'' (2017)

Spanish

* '' La Cama De Plumas De Agata (Alfaguara Infanfil)'' ( Laura L. Seeley, illustrator), Santillana USA Publishing Company (December 1996) * '' Martina una Cucarachita muy Linda: Un Cuento Cubano'' ( Michael Austin, illustrator. Cristina de la Torre, translator) ** 2008 Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People, NCSS/ Children's Book Council ** A Junior Library Guild Selection * ''Un Colchon de Plumas para Agata: Un Cuento de "ALAS" para Ninos'' ( Laura L. Seeley, illustrator. Cristina de la Torre, Translator)

Radio/audio

Deedy has contributed to National Public Radio, National Public Radio’s '' Weekend All Things Considered'' and ''

Latino USA ''Latino USA'' is a nationally syndicated public radio program and podcast produced by The Futuro Media Group and distributed nationwide by the Public Radio Exchange (PRX), after 27 years of being distributed by NPR. The program is anchored by M ...

''. Her audio collection of twelve short stories originally heard on NPR, ''Growing up Cuban in Decatur, Georgia'', (Peachtree Publishers, 2004) was named

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

1995 Best

Audiobook An audiobook (or a talking book) is a recording of a book or other work being read out loud. A reading of the complete text is described as "unabridged", while readings of shorter versions are abridgements. Spoken audio has been available in sc ...

—Adult Storytelling and received the Parents' Choice Gold Award 1996. Deedy's most recent audio recording is her CD for ''Martina the Beautiful Cockroach'', which includes a reading of the book in both English and Spanish, as well as a performance version of the story. That CD is an ALA Notable Children's Recording and an

Odyssey Award The Odyssey Award for Excellence in Audiobook Production is an annual award conferred by the American Library Association upon the publisher of "the best audiobook produced for children and/or young adults, available in English in the United State ...

Honor.

Personal life

Deedy is married to musician

John McCutcheon John McCutcheon (born August 14, 1952) is an American folk music singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who has produced 41 albums since the 1970s. He is regarded as a master of the hammered dulcimer, and is also proficient on many other i ...

. She lives in Decatur, Georgia.

References

External links

*
Peachtree Publishers

Library of Congress Webcast, Bookfest 02, October 12, 2002

Biography, Educational Paperback Association
* *
TED Talk: Carmen Agra Deedy: Once upon a time, my mother ... (TED2005)

The Pura Belpre Award Winners

Association for Library Service to Children The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) is a division of the American Library Association, and it is the world's largest organization dedicated to library service to children. Its members are concerned with creating a better future ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Deedy, Carmen Agra American children's writers American writers of Cuban descent American storytellers Women storytellers Living people Year of birth missing (living people)