Valerie Worth Bahlke (October 29, 1933 – July 31, 1994) was an American poet and writer of children's books under her

maiden name When a person (traditionally the wife in many cultures) assumes the family name of their spouse, in some countries that name replaces the person's previous surname, which in the case of the wife is called the maiden name ("birth name" is also use ...

, Valerie Worth.

Biography

Valerie Worth was born in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

and grew up in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, where her father taught biology at Swarthmore College. In 1947, the family moved to

Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...

for four years, and then spent a year in

Bangalore Bangalore (), List of renamed places in India, officially Bengaluru (), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan area, metropolitan population of a ...

, India.Valerie Worth , Authors , Macmillan
Retrieved 2013-02-9. Worth returned to Swarthmore for college, where in 1955 she received an English Degree with High Honors.Saxon, W. (August 3, 1994)

"New York Times''. Retrieved 2013-02-9.'' Shortly after graduation, she married George Bahlke. After a few peripatetic years, the couple eventually settled in Clinton, New York, where her husband taught at

Kirkland College Kirkland College was a small, private liberal arts women's college located in Clinton, New York, from 1968 to 1978. It was named for Samuel Kirkland, who founded Hamilton College. Hamilton absorbed Kirkland on June 30, 1978, and now maintains ...

. At an informal writers group, Worth met

Natalie Babbitt Natalie Zane Babbitt (née Moore; July 28, 1932 – October 31, 2016) was an American writer and illustrator of children's books. Her 1975 novel '' Tuck Everlasting'' was adapted into two feature films and a Broadway musical. She received th ...

, whose husband, Samuel Fisher Babbitt, was the president of the university. Babbitt had published a few books at the time and recommended Worth's poems to her editor, Michael di Capua at

Farrar, Straus & Giroux Farrar, Straus and Giroux (FSG) is an American book publishing company, founded in 1946 by Roger Williams Straus Jr. and John C. Farrar. FSG is known for publishing literary books, and its authors have won numerous awards, including Pulitzer ...

.Hopkins, Lee Bennet
Profile: Valery Worth
''Language Arts'', Vol. 68, October 1991. Retrieved 2013-02-9. ''Small Poems'', Worth's first published collection, came out in 1972 accompanied by

pen and ink A pen is a common writing tool, writing instrument that applies ink to a surface, usually paper, for writing or drawing. Early pens such as reed pens, quill pens, dip pens and ruling pens held a small amount of ink on a Nib (pen), nib or in a sm ...

illustrations by Babbitt; Babbitt also illustrated her subsequent volumes of "Small Poems", ''More Small Poems'', ''Still More Small Poems'', ''All the Small Poems'', and ''All the Small Poems and Fourteen More''. ''At Christmastime'', a collection published in 1992, was illustrated by Antonio Frasconi and published by Michael Di Capua Books. In addition to poetry Worth also published two young adult novels, ''Gypsy Gold'' and ''Fox Hill'', as well as ''Curlicues: The Fortunes of Two Pug Dogs'', a picture book also illustrated by Babbitt. Two posthumous poetry collections, ''Peacock and Other Poems'' and ''Animal Poems'', were illustrated by Steve Jenkins, and ''Pug and Other Animal Poems'', also illustrated by Jenkins, was scheduled to be published in 2013.

Awards

In 1991, Worth was awarded the NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children by the

National Council of Teachers of English The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) is a United States professional organization dedicated to "improving the teaching and learning of English and the language arts at all levels of education. Since 1911, NCTE has provided a forum ...

."NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children page"
Retrieved 2013-02-9.

Works

*''The Crone's Book of Words'' (1971) *''Small Poems'' (1972) *''More Small Poems''. (1976) *''Still More Small Poems'' (1978) *''Curlicues: The Fortunes of Two Pug Dogs'' (1980) *''Gypsy Gold'' (1983) *''Fox Hill'' (1986) *''Small Poems Again'' (1986) *''All the Small Poems'' (1987) *''The Crone's Book of Wisdom'' (1988) *''At Christmastime'' (1992) *''All the Small Poems and Fourteen More'' (1994)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Worth, Valerie 1933 births 1994 deaths American women poets 20th-century American poets 20th-century American women writers