Cynthia Rylant

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Cynthia Rylant (born 6 June 1954) is an American author and librarian.

More than 100 children's books have been published, including works of fiction (picture books, short stories, and novels), nonfiction, and poetry.

Several of her books have received accolades, including her book Missing May, which received the 1993 Newbery Medal, and A Fine White Dust, a 1987 Newbery Honor book.

Caldecott Honor Books is two of her books.

Early life

Rylant was born in Hopewell, West Virginia, the niece of a U.S. Army soldier, John Tune Smith, and Leatrel Smith née Rylant. Rylant's pen name is based on her mother's maiden name. She lived in Illinois for the first four years. Her parents separated when she was four years old, and she was sent to live with her mother's parents in Cool Ridge, West Virginia, although her mother attended nursing school and was only allowed to visit her a few times a year. Rylant grew up in the Appalachian region of the United States during the 1960s, and was in a very depressed economic environment. Her grandparents, extended family, and kind local townspeople all provided a nurturing, safe environment, while the little girl "waited... until someone could return for me," but they were extremely poor and lived a nomalist life. As a result, she never saw children's books as a child, instead enjoying the outdoors and reading comic books.

She and her mother, who had migrated to Beaver, West Virginia, four years ago, reunited. There were no libraries or bookstores in Cool Ridge, and there were none in Beaver. Rylant never saw her father again, and he died when she was thirteen years old in 1967. "I didn't have a chance to know him or to say goodbye to him," she continued later, "and that's all the loss I needed to become a writer." Rylant fell in love with Paul McCartney and The Beatles when she was nine years old. However, her West Virginia childhood had a major influence on her work, and many of them dealt with life in the Appalachian area. Rylant, a teen, became enchanted with Robert F. Kennedy, whom she encountered during his presidential run. His assassination had a profound effect on her. Her relationship with a child from school was also crucial to her emotional growth.

Rylant received a B.A. A M.A. degree from Morris Harvey College (now the University of Charleston) in 1975. She earned her degree from Marshall University in 1976, discovering and reading English literature while still enjoying her time in school. She married Kevin Dolin in 1977. Since graduating from college, she first worked as a waitress and then as a librarian at the Cabell County Public Library in Huntington, West Virginia, where she finally became familiar with children's books. She taught English part-time at Marshall University in 1979 and wrote her first book, When I Was Young in the Mountains, based on her experiences as a young child in the country with her grandparents. Rylant's picture book, which Rylant later said took her an hour to complete, was given an American Book Award in 1982 and was a Caldecott Honor Book. She and Dolin's marriage ended in 1980, and she obtained a Master's degree in Library Science from Kent State University in 1981. She lived in Kent, Ohio, for many years as a librarian at the Cincinnati Public Library. She then moved to Akron, Ohio, and worked at the Akron Public Library while teaching English part-time at the University of Akron. She was briefly married to a professor at the University of Akron in the early 1980s.

Personal life

She was in a sexy match with Dav Pilkey, the author of Captain Underpants. Rylant and her son, who was born in 1993, migrated to Eugene, Oregon, with her son from her first marriage. In 2003, she moved to Portland, Oregon.

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Career and later years

Rylant published six more picture books based on her childhood experiences in her debut. Miss Maggie, her 1983 book, explores aging themes. Waiting to Waltz: A Childhood (1984), her first poetry collection, was also autobiographical, based on both happy and sad events or people she knew, instilling universal emotions from the incisive portraits. Rylant became interested in writing poetry after being inspired by David Huddle's poetry in college. "People whose lives are difficult but are proud of who and what they are," she said of his Paper Boy. In 1985, Rylant decided to write full-time. A Blue-eyed Daisy (1985), her first book, chronicling a year in the life of a teenage girl, including such events as her first kiss and the burial of a classmate, and her father's marriage with her father, who, like Rylant's real-life grandfather, is injured in a crash and loses his employment. When the company visited, she slept on the ground, according to her 1986 book, The Relative Came. A Fine White Dust, one of her most well-received books, was published in the same year. The young adult novel portrays a boy who becomes a disciple of a charismatic preacher, alienating his parents and relatives. Despite his feelings of betrayal, the young man who goes off with a young woman increases his faith in God and uncovers a more realistic view of human nature. The book was designated as a Newbery Honor book.

Henry and Mudge, the first book in Rylant's popular Henry and Mudge series books, was published in 1987. Mudge, Henry, an only child, develops a deep attachment with a puppy that develops into a massive drooling dog. Henry is depondent when Mudge is missing, and the two are overjoyed when he is recovered. Since then, she has published scores more Henry and Mudge books, picture books, novels for older readers, as well as young adult novels and poetry collections. Long Night Moon, her critically acclaimed 2004 picture book, explores the many moons used by Native American cultures to mark the changing seasons. The Van Gogh Cafe in 1995 is one of the author's favorites. Her books often explore the joys and challenges of family life, with animals and the outdoors, especially in the Appalachian region, and people facing hardships. Appalachia; The Voices of Sleeping Birds, her 1991 non-fiction picture book for older readers, is a vivid representation of life in Appalachia and the warmth of its people.

Missing May, Rylant's 1992 young adult book, is a touching tale about a woman who lives with relatives after the death of her mother and who must help her uncle after the death of his beloved uncle. Starting in the early 1990s, Rylant has published several series targeted at younger readers, including the Lighthouse Family, High-rise Private Eyes, and Everyday Books series, the last of which is a series for very young children that she illustrated herself. She also illustrated several of her other books, including the kiddie Heaven (1995), about an ideal dog afterlife. Other poetry collections include God Went to Beauty School (2003) and Boris (2005).

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