"Nonfiction doesn't get enough respect."

Kathleen Krull at Nonfiction Award Event

The 2011 Children's Book Guild Nonfiction Award winner - Kathleen Krull - vigorously defended the importance of nonfiction in classrooms, libraries and summer reading lists. "It does count as reading and many children prefer it," she insisted, as many of the teachers and librarians in the audience nodded their ascent.

Krull accepted this year's Award for the body of her work with humor ("I have never received an award for my body"), a glance back at her own writing career and a look ahead to the value of nonfiction: "it's more important than ever – young people need to know facts to navigate the world."

As a youngster, Krull wrote poems, diaries and a book called "Hairdos and People I Know," including drawings of nuns with their hair covered and her own promotional blurbs on the back. Hair figures prominently in many of Krull's biographies and in fact, one of her forthcoming books is Big Wig: A Little History of Hair. One of the newest books in her popular "Lives of…" series - Lives of Pirates – tells the stories of "rude, hairy, disgusting criminals – and that includes the women." Her titles range from rambunctious to serious, including the newest book in her Giants of Science series, Charles Darwin.

Krull typically takes a year to write a single book, though she may be writing or researching several at once. She has published more than 50 books, mostly biographies. She depends on scholarly books by others for her research but often finds the tidbits that will most appeal to young readers in the footnotes. Did you know that John F. Kennedy barked for two minutes to warm up his voice before giving a speech? Or that Abe Lincoln's knack for telling jokes and funny stories helped him deflect tension?

Several of her books are joint projects with her artist husband, Paul Brewer – How to Trick or Treat in Outer Space and even Clip, Clip, Clip: Three Stories About Hair.
Kathleen Krull was honored during a luncheon celebration on April 2 at The Channel Inn overlooking the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. She had hoped to see the cherry blossoms during her visit from her home in San Diego– and Washington's legendary blooms obliged.

This year, Guild members donated several large baskets of books which were presented to Ballou High School (Southeast D.C.) librarian Melissa Jackson and library leadership team president Shakeliah Bond.

One of the first organizations to put a spotlight on nonfiction, The Children's Book Guild of Washington, D.C. has honored writers of nonfiction for children every year since 1977.

See photo gallery of Award Celebration at www.facebook.com/bookguilddc.

article courtesy of The Children's Book Guild of Washington, D.C.