Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Discuss This Author
“Through my books I can be many different people, living in many different places, and doing all kinds of interesting things. I can recapture feelings from childhood or project myself into the future. Or I can take a real problem I may be experiencing and work it out on paper. Writing, for me, is the best occupation I can think of and there is nothing in the world I would rather do.”—Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Phyllis Reynolds Naylor has written more than 135 books. Her work has been honored by the American Library Association, the International Reading Association, and the Children’s Book Council.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Newbery Medalist Phyllis Reynolds Naylor grew up in Anderson, Indiana, and Joliet, Illinois. She loved to make up stories and write little books when she was growing up, and sold her first story when she was 16 for $4.67.
Naylor worked as a teacher and an editor before she began to write full-time in 1960. She sold her first book for children in 1965.
Phyllis Reynolds Naylor lives in Gaithersburg, Maryland with her husband, Rex who is a speech pathologist. They have two grown sons and four grandchildren.
“I think I wanted to be a writer because my parents read aloud to us every night until we were about 15 years old. They read Grimm’s fairy tales, the Bible storybook, all of Mark Twain’s books, Alice in Wonderland, The Wind in the Willows—and I think I probably felt that if listening to stories was so much fun, writing them would be even better. And it is. I love being involved in the characters and plot and just the whole mess of writing, it’s such a wonderful mess to me.
“I would like readers to develop more tolerance for people who are different, for ideas that are different, to come to realize that sometimes there isn’t just one right way to do something. People see different possibilities in a situation, and the solutions they come up with may be very different.”
About Her Books
“It was fun for me to do the Boy-Girl Battle Books series. I think I enjoyed them as much as the kids, and according to the stacks of letters I received, they liked them a lot. The idea for the series came to me when I was speaking at a school, and as the kids filed noisily into the gym, one teacher yelled, ‘If you don’t settle down, I’m going to seat you boy/girl/boy/girl.’ The gym was so quiet you could hear nothing but breathing. ‘Aha!’ I thought. The universal theme! The antagonism between boys and girls, ages 9 to 12. In one chapter, the girls may be one up on the boys; in the next, the boys may have the upper hand. There are twelve books in all, ending with Who Won the War.
I also enjoyed writing Faith, Hope and Ivy June. I think most girls have secrets, and Ivy June and Catherine are no exception. I loved researching the Kentucky setting for this book, and comparing the life styles of these girls--one in the city, the other in the mountains.”
AUTHOR FUN FACTS
Born: January 4, in Anderson, Indiana
Previous jobs: Third Grade Teacher, Editorial Assistant, Playground Supervisor
Hobbies: Snorkeling, Swimming, Piano, Theater, Reading
Favorite books: All kinds—scary, funny, serious. Mark Twain was her childhood favorite.
Favorite foods: Chocolate, Pizza
Favorite clothes to wear: Comfortable, colorful shirts and jeans
Favorite colors: Green and blue
PRAISE
THE GRAND ESCAPE
—Texas Bluebonnet Award Master List
ONE OF THE THIRD GRADE THONKERS
—A Child Study Association Children’s Book of the Year
Author Bookshelf
Boys Against Girls
The Hatford-Malloy feud continues in this fast-paced sequel to The Boys Start the War and The Girls Get Even (both Delacorte, 1993). Their egos still smarting from the humiliation they suffered on Halloween...
Available In:
- eBook
- Trade Paperback
Boys in Control
Play ball! That’s what the sixth-grade Buckman Badgers baseball team plans on doing. Eddie Malloy and Jake Hatford hope to lead their team to the championship game the last Saturday in May. But due...
Available In:
- eBook
- Trade Paperback
The Boys Return
It’s spring break and the only assignment Wally Hatford and Caroline Malloy have is to do something that they have never done before. Wally’s sure that will be a cinch once he hears the great...
Available In:
- eBook
- Trade Paperback
Boys Rock!
Wally Hatford dreams of long lazy days far away from school and Caroline Malloy. But Wally, the best speller among the Hatford brothers, gets roped into helping them with a summer newspaper project that...
Available In:
- eBook
- Trade Paperback
The Girls' Revenge
This fourth book about the Hatford brothers and the Malloy sisters begins shortly before Christmas, three months after the Malloys move to Buckman, WV. As the holiday season approaches, the boys and girls...
Available In:
- eBook
- Trade Paperback
Girls Rule!
SUMMER IS AROUND the corner, and the rivalry between the Malloys and the Hatfords is heating up! The kids have two weeks to earn money for a fundraising contest sponsored by the local hospital. Those who...
Available In:
- eBook
- Trade Paperback
The Girls Take Over
The race is on! The Hatford boys and the Malloy girls are ready to outdo one another again. Eddie is the first girl to ever try out for the school baseball team. Now she and Jake are competing for the...
Available In:
- eBook
- Trade Paperback
A Spy Among the Girls
Valentine’s Day is coming up and love is in the air between Beth Malloy and Josh Hatford. When they are spotted holding hands, Josh tells his teasing brothers that he’s simply spying on the...
Available In:
- eBook
- Trade Paperback
A Traitor Among the Boys
The Hatford boys' New Year's resolution is "the girls can stay . . . but only if they play by our rules." Their mother insists that they "treat those girls as though they were your sisters." Okay, but...
Available In:
- eBook
- Trade Paperback
Who Won the War?
Who will win as the curtain closes on the war between the girls and the boys?Summer vacation is almost over and after one year in Buckman it looks like the Malloy girls will be going home to Ohio. The...
Available In:
- eBook
- Trade Paperback
Emily's Fortune
Emily Wiggins is poor and timid, without a drop of self-confidence. When unexpectedly orphaned, she is left all alone except for her turtle, Rufus. What in blinkin' bloomers should Emily do? Emily's neighbors,...
Available In:
- Unabridged Compact Disc
- Unabridged Audiobook Download
- Trade Paperback
- eBook
Faith, Hope, and Ivy June
When push comes to shove, two Kentucky girls find strength in each other.Ivy June Mosely and Catherine Combs, two girls from different parts of Kentucky, are participating in the first seventh-grade student...
Available In:
- Trade Paperback
- eBook
- Hardcover
- Unabridged Compact Disc
- Unabridged Audiobook Download
Emily and Jackson Hiding Out
Emily Wiggins is thrilled that she and her orphan friend Jackson have escaped the clutches of the Child-Catching Services and Emily's villainous uncle Victor. Emily and Jackson are now living happily with...
Available In:
- eBook
- Hardcover Library Binding
- Hardcover
Phyllis Reynolds Naylor Value Collection
ShilohEleven-year-old Marty Preston loves to spend time up in the hills behind his home near Friendly, West Virginia. But one summer Sunday, Marty comes across something different on the road just past...
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Sang Spell
Josh is hitchhiking from Boston to Dallas to begin a new life, trying to sort out the changes that have skewed his world since an accident killed his mother and made a mockery of his dreams. No longer...
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Saving Shiloh
In Saving Shiloh, Phyllis Reynolds Naylor brings to a conclusion the trilogy begun with the Newbery Medal winner Shiloh and its sequel, Shiloh Season. Judd Travers is physically on the mend from the truck...
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Shiloh Season
After Marty Preston worked so hard to earn the dog Shiloh, he had hoped that his troubles with Judd Travers were over. He could not rescue all the dogs that Judd mistreated, but since Shiloh was the one...
Available In:
- Unabridged Audiobook Download
- Unabridged Compact Disc
Shiloh
There's nothing eleven-year-old Marty Preston enjoys more than spending time up in the hills behind his home near Friendly, West Virginia.But this time is different. This time Marty sees a young beagle...
Available In:
- Unabridged Compact Disc
- Unabridged Audiobook Download
