Learn About Florence Parry Heide on good-read.club

Florence Parry Heide

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Born: February 24 1919

Died: 2323 10 20112011

"What do I like about writing for children? Everything," says Florence Parry Heide, the award-winning author of more than sixty children’s books, including the classic THE SHRINKING OF TREEHORN, illustrated by Edward Gorey. "I like the connection with children," the author says. "I like the connection with all kinds of book people. And I like the connection with my childhood self, which is the most of me. It is the most welcome and familiar of worlds. There miracles abound--indeed it is magical that something I might think of can be put into words, stories, ideas, and that those words end up in the heads of readers I will never meet."

Florence Parry Heide wrote SOME THINGS ARE SCARY, a humorous look at childhood bugaboos, more than thirty years ago. "I had finished another book and was in the mood to write something else," she says. "I decided to get some kindling from the garage, reached into the kindling box and--good grief!--grabbed something soft and mushy. I fled back to the house, scared to death." A brave return visit to the kindling box revealed the object of terror to be nothing more than a discarded wet sponge, but the thought remained: some things are scary. As she recalls, "What scared me as a child was that I’d never learn how to be a real grownup--and the fact is, I never did find out how it goes."

One thing Florence Parry Heide does have a good handle on is the concept of friendship, in all its humorous manifestations. THAT’S WHAT FRIENDS ARE FOR, a tongue-in-cheek tale cowritten with Sylvia Van Clief in 1967, pokes at the tendency of well-meaning friends to offer advice instead of help, and presents a valuable lesson about what true friendship means. "One of my many sayings is ‘A new friend is around the corner of every single day,’ " the author declares. "Also true: Friendships last. And last."

Born and raised in Pennsylvania, Florence Parry Heide worked in advertising and public relations in New York City before returning to Pittsburgh during World War II. After the war, she and her husband moved to Wisconsin, where they raised five children, two of whom have cowritten critically acclaimed books with their mother. Florence Parry Heide now lives in Wisconsin.

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Florence Parry Heide

Florence Parry Heide

Books from Florence Parry Heide

Princess Hyacinth: The Surprising Tale of a Girl Who Floated

The Shrinking of Treehorn

How to Be a Hero

The Day of Ahmed's Secret

Dillweed's Revenge: A Deadly Dose of Magic

The Treehorn Trilogy: The Shrinking of Treehorn, Treehorn's Treasure, and Treehorn's Wish

Always Listen to Your Mother

Sami and the Time of the Troubles

Treehorn's Treasure

Tales for the Perfect Child

Fables You Shouldn't Pay Any Attention To

The Problem with Pulcifer

Oh, Grow Up!: Poems to Help You Survive Parents, Chores, School, and Other Afflictions

Mystery of the Forgotten Island

Tio Armando

The Mystery of the Missing Suitcase

Mystery at Keyhole Carnival

Mystery of the Mummy's Mask

Mystery of the Whispering Voice

Mystery of the Bewitched Bookmobile