Join Books.org — it's free

Girls & Women, Literature - Authors & Writers, Authors - Biography, Women - Biography, Literature - Criticism & History
Five Pages a Day: A Writer's Journey by Peg Kehret — book cover

Five Pages a Day: A Writer's Journey

by Peg Kehret
Write a review
Log in to track your reading progress.

Overview

Peg Kehret's books are beloved by kids everywhere. Here is the story of how she dreamed of becoming a writer, beginning with the ill-fated Dog Newspaper, which she published at the age of ten, and how she made her dream come true. As engaging and colorful as her novels, Peg Kehret's account of her life and writing is sure to delight and inspire her many readers.

A biography of the author of numerous books for young people, describing her childhood bout with polio, how she became a writer, family relationships, and the importance of writing in her life.

Synopsis

Peg Kehret's books are beloved by kids everywhere. Here is the story of how she dreamed of becoming a writer, beginning with the ill-fated Dog Newspaper, which she published at the age of ten, and how she made her dream come true. As engaging and colorful as her novels, Peg Kehret's account of her life and writing is sure to delight and inspire her many readers.

School Library Journal

Gr 3-6-This welcome autobiography focuses on Kehret's life as a writer, which began when, at 10, she gathered data from her neighbors and wrote a newspaper about dogs. The author tells about her experience with polio, covered in more detail in Small Steps: The Year I Got Polio (Albert Whitman, 1996). She describes her job proofreading for the Daily Herald the summer between her junior and senior year of high school, and writing commercials for a local radio station the following summer. Throughout the book, Kehret explains what she learned from her various experiences. She discusses her techniques and the importance of researching data and revising her work. Thirteen black-and-white photographs appear in a centerfold. The lively, personable writing will carry readers along, especially would-be writers, those who like to read about authors, and Kehret's many fans.-Kathleen Simonetta, Indian Trails Public Library District, Wheeling, IL Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Reviews

There are no reviews yet. Log in to write one.

Editorials

School Library Journal

Gr 3-6-This welcome autobiography focuses on Kehret's life as a writer, which began when, at 10, she gathered data from her neighbors and wrote a newspaper about dogs. The author tells about her experience with polio, covered in more detail in Small Steps: The Year I Got Polio (Albert Whitman, 1996). She describes her job proofreading for the Daily Herald the summer between her junior and senior year of high school, and writing commercials for a local radio station the following summer. Throughout the book, Kehret explains what she learned from her various experiences. She discusses her techniques and the importance of researching data and revising her work. Thirteen black-and-white photographs appear in a centerfold. The lively, personable writing will carry readers along, especially would-be writers, those who like to read about authors, and Kehret's many fans.-Kathleen Simonetta, Indian Trails Public Library District, Wheeling, IL Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

"I’ve never survived an avalanche or been shipwrecked off the coast of Africa or been abducted by a deranged arsonist. I haven’t traveled back in time or seen a ghost or been arrested for shoplifting." The prolific Kehret (The Stranger Next Door, p. 415, etc.) has done none of these things, so where does she get her ideas for her fast-paced, well-plotted stories (as school kids ask her all the time)? "I have experienced the emotions that each of these situations creates. I’ve been afraid. I’ve been cold, lonely, and angry." The author takes readers through the story of her life and shows how she became a writer and where she gets her ideas. When she was ten, she edited Dog Newspaper, her neighborhood paper. Later, she wrote 25-word contest entries and won a trip to Hawaii from a department store and a new car for her entry on why she likes Kraft Macaroni and Cheese Dinner. Committed to writing five pages per day, she started writing articles and stories for magazines, books for adults such as Refinishing and Restoring Your Piano, and, finally, books for children. When her first children’s books were published, she knew she had found her niche and no longer wrote for adults. Like her novels, this memoir is written in spare, lively prose with plenty of interesting details, anecdotes, and insights. Her bouts with polio as a child and post-polio syndrome later portray a person determined to enjoy each day and make the most of her talents. Readers will come to know and like this writer through this engaging, genial account and will want to get those novels they haven’t yet read. (Nonfiction. 8-13)

Book Details

Published
October 1, 2002
Publisher
Whitman, Albert & Company
Pages
192
Format
Hardcover
ISBN
9780807586501

More by Peg Kehret

Similar books