Book Birthdays, Nebraska

Happy Book Birthday to Ted Kooser: More than a Local Wonder

Book Birthdays celebrate one year of a book’s life in social media posts, reviews, and more. This month we’re saying Happy First Book Birthday to Ted Kooser: More than a Local Wonder (Nebraska, 2023) by Carla Ketner.

About the Book:

Long before Ted Kooser won a Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, served as the U.S. Poet Laureate, and wrote award-winning books for children, he was an unathletic child growing up in Iowa, yearning to fit in. Young Teddy found solace in stories, and one specific book, Robert McCloskey’s Lentil, inspired him to become a writer. As a child and later, while working in the insurance industry, Ted honed his craft and unique style as he wrote about the people and places of the rural Midwest. Ted Kooser: More Than a Local Wonder celebrates the power of stories and of finding oneself through words.

A Word from the Author:

Ted Kooser—United States Poet Laureate, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, essayist, author of children’s picture books, friend, fellow Midwesterner, and subject of my debut book—found his place in the world through words and books. Words filled the empty spaces in his soul and fired his imagination. As a child who didn’t quite fit in, he saw himself in the hero of one specific book, Lentil by Robert McCloskey. Lentil, like young Teddy Kooser, was a clever boy from a small town in the Midwest. That fictional boy inspired Ted Kooser to become a writer.

Not long after the publication of Ted Kooser: More than a Local Wonder, I received a note from the mother of a third grade girl. This little girl saw herself in Ted Kooser, the hero of my book. She found inspiration in Ted’s story and, perhaps, the confidence and courage to pursue her own dreams and become a writer.

Soon after that, Ted Kooser: More than a Local Wonder was featured on “Ariel’s Bookshelf.” Ariel is a precocious young girl who hosts a website on which she interviews authors and reviews books. In her review of Ted Kooser: More than a Local Wonder, Ariel says the book “will touch your heart and fill you with joy.” The lesson Ariel takes from the book is that, “Life is a long journey to find your purpose.” We might feel purposeless, as if we are “drowning in a sea of jellyfish,” she says, “but that’s okay, because that’s how every single person would feel–unless you’re absolutely extraordinary, of course.”

I very much appreciate every single one of the encouraging notes, positive reviews, interview opportunities, speaking engagements and awards I’ve received since the publication of Ted Kooser: More than a Local Wonder, but Ariel’s review and that mother’s note stand out above the others. Every author wants the book they write to resonate with readers and convey a truth of some sort. What more could I ask than for a child to see herself in my book and for my words to inspire children to follow their dreams, whatever those dreams may be, and find their purpose in life?

Awards:

Named a Best New Children’s Book of 2023 by NCompass Live

2024 Paterson Prize for Books for Young People Winner

2024 Midwest Book Award Winner for Children’s Nonfiction

2024 Nebraska Book Award Winner

Semifinalist for 2024 Society of Midland Authors Award

Longlist for Reading the West Book Award

Reviews:

“From the collaged endpapers illustrated with watercolor vignettes and short childlike verse to reproductions of several of the poems for which Kooser became well known, this spare, quiet picture-book biography honors the former United States poet laureate. . . . Ketner’s text and Wallace’s paintings mingle effectively to provide the proper mood to share Kooser’s remarkable story.”—Christiana Dorr, Horn Book Magazine

“In this quiet picture-book tribute to the Midwestern poet and children’s book author, Ketner incorporates phrases and images from Kooser’s works while looking to sources of inspiration in his youth. . . . In Wallace’s watercolor illustrations, as spare as the text, the poet poses against white backgrounds as an observant lad next to playfully oversize pencils or an adult with flying sheets of words.”—John Peters, Booklist

“The lesson that I learned in this book is that you might feel like you don’t have a purpose in the world, you might feel completely lost drowning in a sea full of jellyfish, but that’s okay . . . and that’s what life is for: it’s a long journey to find your purpose.”—Ariel, Ariel’s Bookshelf

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