Literary Birthday – 6 June – Cynthia Rylant

Happy Birthday, Cynthia Rylant, born on 6 June 1954.

Cynthia Rylant Quotes

1. I love being a writer because I want to leave something here on earth to make it better, prettier, stronger.
2. Every person is able to add beauty, whether by growing flowers, or singing, or cooking luscious meals, or raising sweet pets. Every part of life can be art.
3. I learned to write from authors. I didn’t know any, but I read their books.
4. They say that to be a writer you must first have an unhappy childhood. I don’t know if unhappiness is necessary, but I think maybe some children who have suffered a loss too great for words grow up into writers who are always trying to find those words, trying to find a meaning for the way they have lived
5. I want to do something important in my life, and I think that adding beauty to the world with books… really is important.
6. Writing stories has given me the power to change things I could not change as a child. I can make boys into doctors. I can make fathers stop drinking. I can make mothers stay.

Source for quotes: A-Z Quotes

Cynthia Rylant is an American author and librarian. Rylant received a B.A. degree from Morris Harvey College (now the University of Charleston) in 1975 and a M.A. degree from Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia in 1976, discovering and studying English literature and greatly enjoying her years in school. She has written more than 100 children’s books, including works of fiction (picture books, short stories, and novels), non-fiction, and poetry. Her novel Missing May won the 1993 Newbery Medal, and A Fine White Dust was a 1987 Newbery Honor book. Two of her books are Caldecott Honor Books.

Source for photograph: Simon & Schuster

by Amanda Patterson
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