Literary Birthday – 21 August – Sharon Draper

Happy Birthday, Sharon Draper, born 21 August 1948.

Nine Quotes

Without the local library in my neighbourhood, I don’t think I would have grown up to be a writer or a teacher.
I’m a creator, a visionary, a poet. I approach the world with the eyes of an artist, the ears of a musician, and the soul of a writer. I see rainbows where others see only rain, and possibilities when others see only problems.
Thoughts need words. Words need a voice.
A good book ought to bring out lots of different responses from those that read it – none of them pre-planned, and all of them very personal. Whatever they take away from the reading of the book is valuable.
Teachers must be celebrated for moving civilisation from ignorance to enlightenment, from apathy to responsibility.
I love to write; words flow easily from my fingertips, and my heart beats rapidly with excitement as an idea becomes a reality on the paper in front of me. I smile often, laugh easily, and I weep at pain and cruelty. I’m a learner and a seeker of knowledge, and I try to take my readers along on my journey. I am passionate about what I do.
I learned to dream through reading, learned to create dreams through writing, and learned to develop dreamers through teaching. I shall always be a dreamer. Come dream with me.
Words have always swirled around me like snowflakes-each one delicate and different, each one melting untouched in my hands.
It’s like I’ve always had a painted musical sound track playing background to my life. I can almost hear colours and smell images when music is played.

Sharon Draper is an American children’s writer. She has won the Coretta Scott King Award for books about the African-American experience six times. Her books include Copper Sun, Double Dutch, and Out of My Mind.

Image source: Rhododendrites, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sharon_Draper_(11515).jpg

by Amanda Patterson