Patricia Polacco

Throughout her publishing career, Patricia Polacco, author and illustrator, has explored themes of hope and tolerance in books that focus on the experiences of characters of various racial, ethnic and religious affiliations.  Born in Lansing, Michigan, to parents of Russian and Ukranian descent on one side of the family and Irish on the other, she grew up in Oakland, California, in a family of storytellers.  She earned a M.F.A. degree in painting from Morash University in Melbourne, Australia, and a Ph.D. degree in Russian and Greek iconographic history from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology.  Her many honors include the Sydney Taylor Book Award, for The Keeping Quilt, the International Reading Association Children's Book Award for Rechenka's Eggs, the Commonwealth Club of California Silver Medal for Babushka's Doll, the Golden Kite Award for Chicken Sunday, and the Educators for Social Responsibility Award.

Patricia Polacco was a featured panel speaker at the Virginia Hamilton Conference in 1996.

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