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George Ella Lyon has written over 30 books for children and adults. Below is a list of available and forthcoming titles. To see a list of out-of-print titles, click here.
Forthcoming Titles:
- You and Me and Home Sweet Home, illustrated by Stephanie Anderson, Atheneum
- The Pirate of Kindergarten, Atheneum
- All the Water in the World, Atheneum
Available Titles:
Plays: (these have seen numerous productions; excerpts have been published in literary journals)
- Braids, 1985
- Looking Back for Words, with music by Steve Lyon, 1988
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Sleepsong
Illustrated by Peter Catalanotto
Atheneum Books for Young Readers
0689869738, $16.99 hardcover, Ages 1 month - 3 years
ISBN-13: 9780689869730
Includes music and lyrics.
 Listen to George Ella sing her lullaby, "Sleepsong."
“Lyon's sonorous words meld with Catalanotto's dreamy gouache-and-watercolor paintings in this tender lullaby. . . . Words and images together create a gentle rock-a-bye rhythm, topping off a collaborative effort that should grace all children's collections. ” — Kirkus Reviews
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My Friend the Starfinder
Illustrated by Stephen Gammell
Atheneum Books for Young Readers
1-4169-2738-7, $14.99 hardcover, Grades P-2
ISBN-13: 978-1-4169-2738-9
“Stories and the people who tell them form one of the main themes of Lyon's poetic work, and this sumptuously illustrated book, perhaps Gammell's finest, is no exception. . . . Text and art are sure to evoke wonder in readers of all ages. ” — starred review, Publishers Weekly
“Lyon's sensitive tale, spun from a childhood memory, is doubly ruminative: its female narrator relates two boyhood reminiscences told her by an elderly neighbor. . . . Gammell's characteristic mixed-media pictures fully develop Lyon's themes of cosmic and earthly connection. . . . Lovely.” — starred review, Kirkus Reviews
“. . . . where the text is restrained, the illustrations fairly holler with light and joy. During each of the Starfinder's stories, the palette begins with hushed expectation in black and white, gradually adding colors until the whole page is glowing. This is not to belie the power of Lyon's spare text-it is only in the tension between the carefully chosen words and vivid pictures that the stories' magic emerges. A lovely collaboration.” —School Library Journal
“Though poetic, Lyon's words are spare, never florid, for an elegantly powerful effect with silence built in, allowing readers space to use their own imaginations. Gammell's art begins with exuberant shades, but when the story enters the past, the pictures are as gray as Dorothy's Kansas until the boy finds the star . . . . The rainbow then spectacularly spills its colors over the boy, and the book closes with the little girl and the Starfinder looking out at the universe, filled with colorful planets and golden light.” —The Horn Book
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Don't You Remember?
Motes Books
0-9778745-6-7, $17.00 paper, for adults
In Don't You Remember? poet, novelist and children's writer George Ella Lyon investigates a childhood experience in which she seemed to have uncovered memories
from another lifetime. Her decades-long search takes her back to the town where the 'memories' surfaced, through libraries and archives, to past-life therapy, and eventually to Wales. Part mystery, part a study of the creative process, Don't You Remember? leads the reader deep into essential questions about who and how we are.
“This is a gorgeous and deeply unsettling book. . . [Lyon] lays it all out, allowing us to see and draw our own conclusions. What she also does is write with passionate clarity about the life of stories and the telling of lives, about what writers do and how they work.” — Booklist
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With a Hammer for My Heart
University Press of Kentucky
0813191750, $16.00 paper, for teens and adults
ISBN-13: 978-0813191751
Reissued in June 2007 as part of the Kentucky Voices series.
“A rich tale of healing, redemption, and social responsibility.” — Publishers Weekly
“Lyon gives readers a story rich in precise, gorgeous language that glows like a sword on the forge and cuts as deep. . . . Tragedies old and new weave a tiny Kentucky town into the center of the universe.” — starred review, Booklist
"The dialogue in this wonderful story is moving, often funny, and always true to life." — School Library Journal
"With her poet's pen, Lyon has fashioned as fine and moving a love story as you'll ever read, just about as strange and wonderful as life itself. Filled with passion, pain, and redemption, this novel is a classic." —Lee Smith
"With a love of language that comes from the heart of a people, George Ella Lyon has plunged right into the souls of a wide range of characters who are tender, human, funny and true." — Bobbie Ann Mason
SELECTED FOR BORDERS "ORIGINAL VOICES" SERIES
SELECTED FOR THE 2008 NORTHERN KENTUCKY ONE BOOK ONE COMMUNITY PROGRAM
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Songs for the Mountaintop
Kentuckians for the Commonwealth
$15.00 Compact Disc
George Ella performs an original song on this new collection of songs by Kentucky musicians singing out against mountaintop removal mining and for a better future in the mountains.The CD contains 12 original songs in the bluegrass, folk and traditional music styles, all speaking to our love of the earth and homeplace, and protesting those who would destroy that.
Listen to George Ella sing Just a Mountain.
"Songs for the Mountaintop clearly demonstrates how deeply the artists of Appalachia care about their homeland and culture. 'Protest' has been a part of folkmusic since long before Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie. This album carries on a great tradition that I am proud to be a part of." -- Michael Jonathan, host of Woodsongs Old-Time Radio Hour
For more information about Kentuckians for the Commonwealth and this CD, go
to the
KFTC website.
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Trucks Roll!
Illustrated by Craig Frazier
Atheneum Books for Young Readers
1-4169-2435-3, $14.99 hardcover, Grades PreS-1
ISBN-13: 978-1-4169-2435-7
“Can there ever be enough truck books? With a simple playful rhyme and big, bright pictures of powerful vehicles close up, this one is sure to be in demand. The word is BIG, not only for the vehicles but also for their trailers and wheels and other parts; for all the different loads they carry, from spaceships to toys: 'Trucks bring ice cream. / Trucks bring blocks, / books and bulldozers, dolls and clocks.' . . . After many read-alouds, lap-sit listeners will still want to point at the pictures and play.” — Booklist
“Standing out as bright and unique in an increasingly competitive genre of picture books highlighting wheeled machines, Lyon and Frazier team up to seamlessly combine loads of truck facts with some funky whimsy to mesmerize the tot that can't get enough.” — Kirkus Reviews
“Solid, up-to-date information about a major preschool enthusiasm is leavened with lively verse and a touch of whimsy.” — Horn Book Magazine
Beginning With Books' Best Books for Babies 2008
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No Dessert Forever!
Illustrated by Peter Catalanotto
Atheneum Books for Young Readers
1-4169-0385-2, $16.95 hardcover, Grades K-4
ISBN-13: 978-1-4169-0385-7
“Lyon's thoughtful story is greatly enhanced by Catalanotto's realistic illustrations of watercolor and gouache, and by a decision to let several of the pictures speak for themselves, with no text. An offbeat winner.” - Kirkus Reviews
“...bringing a warm glow to the goings-on, which many children--and adults--will find utterly familiar.” - Booklist
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Counting on the Woods
Photographs by Ann W. Olson
DK Ink
Grades K-3
0-789-42480-0, $15.95 hardcover (LIMITED QUANTITIES)
0-789-42662-5, $5.95 paperback (LIMITED QUANTITIES)
“A short poem illustrated with stunning full-color photographs, this counting book is a simple lesson in ecology that reminds children of the importance of green space. It is clear that humans and animals count on trees to be there, to 'clean the air/for everything/that breathes.' Lyon's lyrical voice is concisely interpreted by lush photographs of the Kentucky woods.” - School Library Journal
“Teachers and parents seeking to help children
appreciate the simple beauty to be found on a walk
through the woods will treasure this exquisite book.” -
starred review, Publishers Weekly
“A gem of a counting book...” - starred review,
Booklist
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Mother to Tigers
Illustrated by Peter Catalanotto
Atheneum 2003
0-689-84221-x, $17.95 hardcover, Grades K-3
- Junior Library Guild Selection
- Parents' Choice Silver Medal 2003
- Best 'Information Please' Books, Nick Jr. Magazine
- Amelia Bloomer Project: Recommended Feminist Books for Youth 2004
- Girl Power! - Strong Girls, Strong Women, University of Iowa
“Arresting art illuminates Lyon and Catalanotto's tribute to Helen Martini, founder of the Bronx Zoo's animal nursery...[T]he story cannot miss its mark as animal lovers appreciate Helen's love for and commitment to saving nature's newest members.” - Publishers Weekly
“This handsome and intriguing real-life story will be savored as independent and shared reading and useful as simple nonfiction for varied classroom purposes.” - starred review, School Library Journal
“Lyon's succinct, yet elegant, prose emphasizes Martini's dedication to the animals in her care, detailing how she and her husband often spent evenings at the zoo tending to the needy babies. Catalanotto's...art is particularly effective here...This will be popular with animal fans and classes studying zoos and careers.” - Booklist
“Based on a true story, this beautifully illustrated picture book introduces young readers to Helen Frances Theresa Delaney Martini, the first woman zookeeper at the Bronx Zoo and founder of the zoo's animal nursery in 1944...Catalanotto's remarkable illustrations are a wonderful combination of watercolor, charcoal and torn paper. The author also includes a fascinating 'Author's Note' at the end.” - Children's Literature
Nominated for:
Children's Crown Award
Young Hoosier Book Award
Pennsylvania Young Readers' Choice
Mockingbird Award
Washington Children's Choice
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Weaving the Rainbow
Illustrated by Stephanie Anderson
Atheneum 2004
0-689-85169-3, $16.95 hardcover, Grades PreS-2
An artist raises sheep, shears them, cards and spins the wool, dyes it, and then weaves a colorful picture of the Kentucky pasture where her lambs were born.
And, as Lester Laminack and Barbara Bell say in Language Arts, “It is so much more than that. It is a story of envisioning, planning, working toward something beautiful that lives within you, a story of believing your vision into reality.”
“The beauty of the pictures and the rhythm of the language will entrance children even if they have never thought about sheep, or weaving at all, and they will come away with a bit of knowledge wrapped around a weft of joy.” - Kirkus
“Limpid verse and luminous watercolors form the warp
and weft of the beautifully crafted book.”
- Publisher's Weekly
"A beautifully presented walk through one person's artistic process.” - School Library Journal
“Elementary-school art teachers may find it especially useful for introducing kids to less-common forms of creative expression and for communicating a gentle
message about the rewards of patient labor.” - Booklist
“Is it possible for someone to make a rainbow? In lovely, precisely phrased prose, George Ella Lyon looks over the shoulder of a young weaver...” - Nicholas Basbanes
"Lyon makes the process of weaving into a mystical, magical experience...The respect and affection for the sheep, the weaver and her craft are clearly depicted.” - Children's Literature
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A Wordful Child
Photographs by Ann W. Olson
Richard Owen, 1996 (Meet-the-Author Series
1-572-74016-7, $14.95 hardcover, Grades 2-5
“Lyon...speaks eloquently about her love of words. One of her most important memories is of her extended family telling stories around the dinner table. Some of these stories later became books, such as A Regular Rolling Noah. Lyon recounts the years of hard work it took to become a published author.” - School Library Journal
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Where I'm From, Where Poems Come From
Absey and Co., 1999
0-888-84212-1, $13.95 hardcover, for adults
A hands-on poetry workshop
- NY Public Library Best Book for the Teenage
- Finalist for the ALA Printz Award
“This guide to poetry writing carries a simple
message: You have within you everything you need to write.” - The Riverbank Review
“Novice poets will appreciate Lyon's encouragement and
enthusiasm for a challenging genre.” - Booklist
“This combination memoir and how-to by a well-known children's book author will attract anyone interested in the creative writing process.” - Booklist 'Crossovers: Children's Books for Adults'
“This combination of memoir and writing guide is inspiring and thought provoking. A delicious read!”
- Kristine O'Connell George
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Borrowed Children
University Press of Kentucky
0-813-10972-8, $9.95 paperback
- Winner of the Golden Kite Award
- Booklist, Editor's Choice
- School Library Journal Best Books of the Year
- Publisher's Weekly Best Books of the Year
- NY Public Library's One Hundred Titles for Reading and Sharing
- Library of Congress' Best Books of the Year
“With eloquence and an economy of language, Lyon tells a story of dreams, of journeys, of family love and acceptance, set in Kentucky during the Depression...Borrowed Children is fresh, different, and totally captivating.” - School Library Journal
“Lyon is a sure-handed writer who picks her words with precision. As Amanda slowly unravels the threads that make up the familial skein, readers cannot help but become involved in the generational complexities. A choice coming-of-age story, whose tellingis subtle and whose writing is vivid.” - starred review, Booklist
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Sonny's House of Spies
Atheneum 2004
0-689-85168-5, $16.95 hardcover, Grades 6 & up
“A poignant story set in Alabama in the 1950s. Thirteen-year-old Sonny longs for his father, who left the family when he was six. Uncle Marty, a local bachelor and an Elder at the One-Way Word of Faith Tabernacle, begins to escort the family to church, becoming a friend to Sonny's mother. The boy has a humorous way of describing his elders, seeing their foibles, yet remaining positive and sympathetic toward them.” - starred review, School Library Journal
“Racially divided, homophobic, post-WWII Alabama serves as the setting for Lyon's exceptionally well-crafted coming-of-age story.” - starred review, Publisher's Weekly
“This lively novel crackles with wit...as it sensitively explores Sonny's world.”
- starred review, The Horn Book
Nominated for:
The Bluegrass Award
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Catalpa
Wind Publications 1993, reissued in 2007 with an introduction by Robert West
0-96365452-7, $15.00 paperback, for adults
- Winner of the Appalachian Book of the Year Award
“Lyon is never trivial; she writes of things that matter - birth, death, family, community...her metaphors are always vivid and fresh, and often brilliant...Lyon's poems are visions to which art has given voice. ” - Jim Wayne Miller
“Modest and unpretentious...Whether she is describing her forebears, her children, or the life of her beloved Virginia Woolf, her ear is perfect, impeccable, full of lyric music.” - Ruth Whitman
“Lyon's poems offer many gifts, but a focus on the search for ancestry seems to me the unique gift of Catalpa. This searching begins locally and reaches beyond the bonds that unite us all, Appalachian and non-Appalachian, man and woman, to the essence of our common humanity. Here we discover lives brought forth in words, "'no waste and no hurry...tough as a poem for the burden that outlasts us, for a heart leaved with words like a tree.” - Jeff Daniel Marion
“Catalpa will read you the riddle of family, of memory, of Oaksie Caudill and Virginia Woolf, of Red Bird Mission and the Air Force Museum, of searching 'way up the chromosome chain' for your mothers and fathers...Like leaves on a tree, these gentle, accurate poems will delight eye and ear; like leaves on a tree, they are both seeming-simple and intricately veined, each one individual yet part of a whispering, mantic whole.” - Jane Wilson Joyce
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Choices: Stories for Adult New Readers
University Press of Kentucky 1989
0-8131-0900-0, $4.95 paperback, for adults
“I don't agree with all the choices people make,” says
the author. “You probably won't either. My job is to
let them tell their stories.” And so she does in these
thirteen warm, funny, and sad short stories about
people making hard decisions for themselves and for
their families:
— Like Iona, who accidentally accepts a marriage proposal.
— And Daryll, just about to graduate from high school, whose mother is eager for him to “make
something” of himself.
— And Lexie and Jeb, deep in debt and already struggling to feed their six children, who find out a
seventh is on the way.
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A Kentucky Christmas
University Press of Kentucky 2003
Edited by George Ella Lyon
0-813-12279-1, $28.00 hardcover, for adults
A Kentucky Christmas is a celebration of holiday poetry, fiction, essays, recipes, and songs by more than fifty of the Bluegrass state's finest writers.
Gathered here are yuletide writings from some of the legendary voices of Kentucky — and the nation — as well as original Christmas stories and poetry from some of the state's emerging talents. A delight for anyone interested in Kentucky literature, history, or traditions, A Kentucky Christmas promises to be a wonderful holiday gift, a treasured family keepsake, and a necessary addition for libraries and for personal collections.
“In A Kentucky Christmas, readers get a gigantic gift full of literary goodies — some 337 pages — under their tree...This is a heartfelt present we have made ourselves and that is usually the best kind.” - Steve Flairty, Kentucky Monthly
“Lyon's collection, distinguished by its literary quality and transcendence of the mawkish diction that so often defines holiday give books, is superb.” - L. Elisabeth Beattie, Lexington Herald-Leader
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Crossing Troublesome: Twenty-Five Years of the Appalachian Writers Workshop
Edited by Leatha Kendrick and George Ella Lyon
Preface by Robert Morgan
Wind Publications, 2002
1-893239-07-1, $18.00 paperback, for adults
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Old Wounds, New Words: Poems from the Appalachian Poetry Project
Edited by Bob Henry Baber, George Ella Lyon, and Gurney Norman
The Jesse Stuart Foundation
0-945084-44-7, $10.00 hardcover, for adults
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