About Judy Young
![[ Mom's Choice Award ]](images/MCAGoldEmbossed.jpg)
Judy Young is an
award-winning children's author and poet who specializes in school
visits and writing workshops for students. She also speaks at events such
as children's literature festivals and young author conferences as well
as conducting poetry writing workshops for elementary and middle school
students nationwide. Judy is also a frequent featured speaker at professional
educational conferences nationwide as well as for individual school districts'
professional development workshops and school in-services. With twenty
years experience in the public schools, Judy has first hand knowledge
in improving students' writing skills and her presentations and workshops
are directly related to school curriculum.
When Judy was about ten years old, she showed her grandmother a poem she had written. Her grandmother encouraged her to keep on writing and Judy has done so ever since. Her children's books, which include poetry, fiction and nonfiction, are used extensively in the classrooms across the country and have received numerous awards and recognition. Judy's book R is for Rhyme, A Poetry Alphabet received the Mom's Choice Gold Award, Educator’s Choice Award, a National Parenting Publications Honor Award and the Missouri Writers' Guild Best Juvenile Book Award. In addition, it was performed by the Tanner Creative Dance Program of the University of Utah for their 58th annual performance. Minnow and Rose was the winner of the Storytelling World Award for Pre-Adolescent Listeners. Minnow and Rose is also a 2010/2011 PA Keystone to Reading Award Nominee, AL Camillia Book Award Nominee, and DE Diamonds Book Award Nominee. The Lucky Star is a 2010/2011 MO Show Me Award Nominee. It also received a Storytelling World Honor Award and was chosen as a top-five book by Rutgers University's EconKids Project. S is for Show Me, A Missouri Alphabet was selected to represent Missouri at the National Book Festival in Washington, DC. Judy's other titles include The Hidden Bestiary of Marvelous, Mysterious and (maybe even) Magical Creatures; H is for Hook, A Fishing Alphabet; Lazy Days of Summer; Show Me the Number, A Missouri Number Book; and The Missouri Reader. Judy has two additional books that will release in 2011 and 2012.
Judy is a full member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, the Missouri Writers' Guild and the Missouri State Poetry Society, in which she is on the board as Youth Works Director. As such, Judy has been annually recognized by the National Federation of State Poetry Societies with their Award of Merit for Outstanding Youth Activities.
Born and raised in Springfield, MO, Judy went to college at the University of Tulsa where she received her BS and MA in Speech and Language Pathology. Soon afterwards, she and her husband, Ross, moved to Maine, where they lived for eight years before returning to Springfield. Formerly employed in the public schools for 20 years, Judy worked with students in the area of language arts. She frequently used poetry writing to help elementary school children improve their writing skills in both special language classes and in the regular classroom. Judy feels "the genre of poetry is the perfect place to teach a variety of writing conventions. Its shorter form enables students to be immediately successful, and the concepts learned during poetry writing can easily be generalized to prose." In 2004, Judy left the schools to fulfill her dream of writing but continues to have a direct impact on the education of children by speaking at schools and professional educational conferences.
Judy resides in the country near Springfield, MO, where she writes full time. Her husband, Ross B. Young, is a professional artist. He illustrated Judy's S is for Show Me, A Missouri Alphabet and Show Me the Number, A Missouri Number Book. They have a grown daughter and son, and several dogs. When not writing or speaking at schools and conferences, you can find Judy hiking, fishing, or gallivanting around the country in "Arlo," the Young's traveling studio.
To receive more information concerning Judy's Books,
Presentations or Workshops,
Contact Judy Young.