Lynn Plourde (1955 - )

Genre: Non-Fiction - Scholarly, Children's Literature

Plourde, a native of Dexter and now a Winthrop resident, has always lived in Maine. She earned a B.A. and M.A. from the University of Maine. A school speech therapist for twenty years, her first publishing efforts include educational texts such as Classroom Listening and Speaking (1985/1995), a series of program and activity books written for the classroom teacher, followed by Clas [Classroom Learning and Speaking] Preschool (1989), Clas by Themes (1990) and others.

In an Amazon.com author interview (no longer linked), Plourde said she was first aware of picture books when she became the stepmother of three-year-old and four-year-old boys. Thoroughly taken with the joys of good picture books, she began writing her own stories. She persevered through thirteen years of rejection slips before her first picture book, Pigs in the Mud in the Middle of the Rud (1997), was accepted and published.

In 1999, she published two books: the beautiful Wild Child and the humorous Moose, Of Course! (illus. Jim Sollers). Plourde wrote about her collaboration with Greg Couch, Wild Child's illustrator, in an article titled 'The Other Parent of My Book' for the November/December 1999 cite>Maine In Print.

Other Plourde books include:

• Winter Waits (2000; illus. Greg Couch)
• Snow Day (2001; illus. Hideko Takahashi)
• Spring's Sprung (2002; illus. Greg Couch)
• School Picture Day (2002; ill. Thor Wickstrom)
• Grandpappy Snippy Snappies (2002; ill. Christopher Santoro)
• Summer's Vacation (2003; illus. Greg Couch)
• Teacher Appreciation Day (2003; illus. Thor Wickstrom)
• Thank You, Grandpa (2003; illus. Jason Cockcroft)
• The First Feud: Between the Mountain and the Sea (2003; illus. Jim Sollers), an original fable about a feud between the mighty mountain Katahdin and the great Atlantic Ocean
• Mother, May I? (2004)
• Pajama Day (2005; illus. Thor Wickstrom), another in the Mrs. Shepherd's class series
• Dad, Aren't You Glad? (2005; illus. Amy Wummer), a companion book to Mother, May I?
• Book Fair Day (2006, illus. Thor Wickstrom)
• Dino Pets (2007): A rhyming tale about a young boy who visits the Dino Pets shop over and over in search of the perfect dinosaur.
• A Mountain of Mittens (2007; illus. Mitch Vane), in which Molly keeps losing her mittens
• At One - In a Place Called Maine (2007, illus. Leslie Mansmann)
• Margaret Chase Smith: A Woman for President (2008)
• Science Fair Day (2008), another book about Mrs. Shepherd's fifth grade class.
• The Dump Man's Treasures (2008, illus. Mary Beth Owens), set in Shiretown, Maine.
• Field Trip Day (2009, illus. Thor Wickstrom)

Influenced by her grandmother's recent death, Plourde's Thank You and Good-Bye (2000) focuses on a child's understanding and acceptance of death. Winter Waits (2001; illus. Greg Couch), a companion book to autumn's Wild Child, is the second of what Plourde hopes will be a series about the four seasons.

Plourde, one of the Maine Arts Commission's visiting artists, has received enthusiastic responses to her program presented in Maine schools and libraries.

Maine writer Jack Barnes included Plourde's books in his 1998 annual review of the best in that year's Maine children's books. The positive response to her books, however, extends far beyond the state of Maine. Pigs in the Mud in the Middle of the Rud is found on a number of national and regional Best Books lists such as the Chicago Public Library's "1997 Best of the Best;" and a Garrison, New York school/library bibliography. Wild Child was a 1999 American Booksellers Association's 'Children's Pick of the List.'

In addition to writing picture books, Plourde, with her husband, Paul Knowles, wrote A Celebration of Maine's Children's Books (1998); it focuses on what they consider the best 185 Maine children's books in print and contains plot summaries, biographical information, and learning activities for each title.

Plourde's website has contact info.


Last Update: 02/07/2009

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