Gordon Berman ’68 Memorial Lower School Resident Author
Our resident author program brings noteworthy authors and illustrators of children’s books to the Park School each year for presentations and hands-on workshops with Lower School students. Dr. and Mrs. Barnett Berman established the fund in 1984 to honor their son Gordon, Class of 1968, who loved to read and spent many hours in the library.
2024-25 Gordon Berman ’68 Memorial Lower School Resident Author
Carmen Agra Deedy is an award-winning author of 16 books for young readers, including The Rooster Who Would Not Be Quiet!, Martina the Beautiful Cockroach, Rita and Ralph’s Rotten Day, and 14 Cows for America, a New York Times Bestseller. Her latest books are Wombat Said Come In, released in October 2022, Carina Felina, released in August 2023, and The Peanut Man, due to be released in March 2025.
Her personal stories first appeared on NPR’s All Things Considered. Funny, insightful, and frequently irreverent, Deedy’s narratives are culled from her childhood as a Cuban refugee in Decatur, Georgia. She hosts the four-time Emmy-winning children’s program, Love That Book!
Deedy is also an accomplished lecturer, having been a guest speaker for the Library of Congress, Columbia University, the TED and TEDx Conference, and the Kennedy Center, among other distinguished venues. An editor, and lifelong advocate for libraries, she previously served on the Advisory Board of the Smithsonian Libraries and Archives.
Past Resident Authors
2023-24
Cara Llewellyn
2022-23
Kevin Sherry
2021-22
Jason Chin and James Yang
2018-2019
Carmen Agra Deedy
2017-2018
George O’Connor
2016-2017
Adam Gidwitz ’00
Kevin O’Malley
2015-2016
Grace Lin
2012-2013
Laura Amy Schlitz
Newbery Award Winner
2011-2012
Jacqueline Ogburn
2010-2011
Lynne Jonell
2009-2010
Jerry Pinkney
Caldecott Award Winner
2008-2009
Mo Willems
2007-2008
Jean Craighead George
Newbery Award Winner
2006-2007
Patrick O’Brien
2005-2006
Robert Byrd
2004-2005
Wendy Pfeffer
2003-2004
Mordicai Gerstein
Caldecott Award Winner
2002-2003
Alice McGill
2001-2002
Hudson Talbott
2000-2001
Nancy Patz
1999-2000
Twig George
1998-1999
Nancy Willard
Newbery Award Winner
1997-1998
Demi
1996-1997
Molly Bang
Caldecott Award Winner
1995-1996
Mary Lyons
1994-1995
Susan Roth
1993-1994
Emily Arnold McCully
Caldecott Award Winner
1992-1993
Bianca Lavies
1991-1992
Johanna Hurwitz
1990-1991
Ashley Bryan
1989-1990
David Wisniewski
Caldecott Award Winner
1988-1989
Vera Williams
Caldecott Award Winner
1987-1988
Jean Craighead George
Newbery Award Winner
1986-1987
Nancy Patz
1985-1986
Ashley Bryan
1984-1985
Molly Bang
Caldecott Award Winner
