Kathy-jo Wargin
is the bestselling author of more than fifty books for adults and children, earning national recognition for award–winning titles such as Michigan’s Official State Children’s Book The Legend of Sleeping Bear, the International Reading Association’s Children’s Choice Award Winner The Legend of the Loon, The Voyageur’s Paddle, and many more.
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The Legend of Sleeping Bear
Sleeping Bear Press | date of publication 1998
A mother’s love. An endearing bond. A beloved classic. For more than two decades, reading The Legend of Sleeping Bear has been a cherished experience throughout the Great Lakes and beyond.
About Kathy-jo Wargin
Author Kathy-jo Wargin has earned national recognition for award–winning titles such as Michigan’s Official State Children’s Book The Legend of Sleeping Bear, the International Reading Association’s Children’s Choice Award Winner The Legend of the Loon, The Voyageur’s Paddle, and more.
Throughout her thirty year career she has been a consultant to publishers, ghostwriter for notables, public speaker and content developer. For many of those years, she was a frequent visitor to schools and classrooms throughout the Great Lakes region, teaching about creativity and the natural environment.
Kathy-jo was born in Tower, Minnesota and raised in northern Minnesota. She studied music composition at the University of Minnesota-Duluth and received a Certificate of Entrepreneurship from the University of St. Thomas. Today, as an active entrepreneur, she is committed to projects that amplify and strengthen the connections between health, wellness, and the natural environment.
She is married to Great Lakes photographer Ed Wargin, founder of The Fresh Coast Project and The Great Lakes Film Collection.
A Partial List of Reviews & Awards
AWARDS
The Legend of Sleeping Bear
1999 Parent's Choice Silver Honors Television Award for the animated version of The Legend of Sleeping Bear, narrated by actor Jeff Daniels.
IPPY Award Finalist, Runner-up, 1999
Official State Children's Book of Michigan
Lansing's Capital Area District Library's Children's Choice Award for Best Picture Book
Amazon Bestselling Legend/Myth Category
Alfred Nobel, Man Behind the Peace Prize
New York State Reading Assoc. Charlotte Award Suggested Reading List--Intermediate Category, Short-listed, 2012
Children's Crown Gallery Award Honor Book, Winner, 2012
Childen's Crown Gallery Award Nominee, Runner-up, 2011
Alabama Camellia Award Program: A Children's Choice Award Winner 2010
CCBC Choices--The Annual Best-of-the-Year List of the Cooperative Children's Book Center, Short-listed, 2010
Rutgers University Project on Economics and Children Book of the Month, Winner, 2010
National Parenting Publications Association Honor Book 2009
The Voyageur’s Paddle
Finalist 2007 NEMBA Awards
Bank Street College of Education’s Best Books of 2007 List
Win One for the Gipper: America's Football Hero
2006 New York State Reading Association Charlotte Award Shortlist – Intermediate Category
2006 New York State Reading Association Charlotte Committee Suggested Reading List – Intermediate Category
2005 IRA Teacher's Choice, Intermediate
2005 Great Lakes Book Award Finalist
2006 New York State Reading Association Charlotte Committee Suggested Reading
Winner, Stories for Adolescent Listeners Category
M is for Mitten, A Michigan Alphabet
2000 Read Michigan Selection
2004 National Book Festival state selection for Michigan
2005 National Book Festival’s state selection to represent Michigan 2000 Read Michigan Selection
2004 National Book Festival state selection for Michigan
2005 National Book Festival’s state selection to represent Michigan
The Edmund Fitzgerald: Song of the Bell
2004 Michigan Notable Books List
2004 MRA Great Lakes Book Award Honor Book 4th & 5th grade
The Legend of Leelanau
2003 GLBA Children's Book Award Finalist
The Legend of the Loon
2001 International Reading Association Children's Choice Award winner
The Legend of Mackinac Island
1999 Read Michigan Selection
1999 Great Lakes Children's Book Award
2002 MRA Reader's Choice Award winner
The Michigan Reader
2002 MRA Reader's Choice Award winner
V is for Viking: A Minnesota Alphabet
2004 Minnesota Book Award Finalist
2003 NEMBA Award (Northeast Minnesota Book – UMD Duluth
B is for Badger
2005 Midwest Book Award Nominee
The Legend of Minnesota
2006 Honorable Mention NEMBA Award
2006 Finalist Minnesota Book Awards
Minn from Minnesota
2006 Finalist NEMBA Award
Little Minnesota
2012 Northeastern Minnesota Book Award (NEMBA) Shortlist Nominee Children’s Literature Category
Moose on the Loose
2010 Midwest Booksellers Choice Honor Book: Children’s Picture Book Category
REVIEWS
Alfred Nobel, Man Behind the Peace Prize
“This beautifully illustrated book will appeal to readers of all ages. Alfred Nobel’s career as an inventor raises many questions about science, history, and ethics. The book is easy to read yet thought-provoking; it is exciting but still accurate in its description of the life of Alfred Nobel.”
— Ulf Larsson, PhD, Senior Curator, Nobel Museum, Stockholm, Sweden
The Edmund Fitzgerald, Song of the Bell
“ ..this is a well-written and beautifully illustrated piece of history. Recommended. ”
— Library Media Connection
Alfred Nobel, The Man Behind the Peace Prize
“This book brings to life an interesting story that children will enjoy hearing, particularly with the direct text that crisply presents important highlights, and the fabulous illustrations that magnify the characters’ facial features. Children and adults alike will walk away with a new understanding of the invention of dynamite, the establishment of the Nobel Prizes, and the ironic link between these two events.”
— RUTGERS UNIVERSITY PROJECT ON ECONOMICS AND CHILDREN
The Edmund Fitzgerald, Song of the Bell
“ ..this is a well-written and beautifully illustrated piece of history. Recommended. ”
— LIBRARY MEDIA CONNECTION
The Frog Prince
“ A very pretty rendering of this difficult story. Wargin has stayed very close to the Grimms’ version: The princess does not kiss the frog at all, but throws him across the room in a fit of pique...”
— KIRKUS REVIEWS
Scare A Bear
“ The team behind Moose on the Loose is back. This time around, Wargin's bouncy rhymes and Bendall-Brunello's humor-filled illustrations star a big brown bear who wreaks havoc at a campsite: "If he climbed in your bunk, / would the bed go kerplunk?" As in Moose, it's an adult-provided solution that saves the day--to scare a bear, "Just say... Boo!”
—SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL
M is for Melody
“ The poetic text of this book celebrates musical instruments, terms, and methods. From the oom-pah-pah of the brass trombones to ragtime and yodel, children can learn about musical sounds and vocabulary. In the margins, informative text offers definitions or short explanations of musical terms as well as brief historical information.”
— TEACHING MUSIC
Alfred Nobel, Man Behind the Peace Prize
“Wonderful storytelling with words and pictures of the man behind dynamite, and the unexpected, sometimes tragic consequences of invention. A book for every library. ”
— FOREWORD REVIEWS
The Legend of Leelanau
“Wargin’s version is a fluid retelling that even young listeners will comprehend and older readers will enjoy. ”
— KIRKUS REVIEWS
Moose on the Loose
“ Colorful spreads and simple rhymes will make this whimsical story a hit. ”
— SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL
The Frog Prince
“ Wargin has preserved much of the tone of the original text while editing the length to make it more palatable for younger audiences.”
— BOOKLIST
M is for Mitten
“ M is for Mitten: A Michigan Alphabet is one of my Michigan favorites. It’s a creative and imaginative way to young children about the wonders of our state. It not only helps them learn the alphabet, but also instills, at an early age, pride in this place we call home. If you are a Michigan native, or if you have never visited out state, M is for Mitten will give you a sense of joy and awe about the Great Lakes State..”
—JENNIFER GRANHOLM, MICHIGAN GOVERNOR
Otter Out of Water
“ ...the rhyme scheme is suggestive of a campfire singalong: “Now what if that otter follows you home?/ Will you hop, will you skip?/ Will you whistle and yip?/ Will you hide in the bushes to give him the slip?/ What if that otter follows you home?”...”
— PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
partial title list
LITTLE KNOWN FACTS
Kathy-jo was the first Michigan writer with the distinction of having two books designated to the Read Michigan Notable Book List in the same year.
Along with her husband, photographer Ed Wargin, they have the distinction of being the first married couple to first have a joint book and later separate books on the Michigan Notable Book List in the same year.
Both The Legend of Sleeping Bear and The Legend of Mackinac Island were developed into animated stories for television, and both were narrated by actor Jeff Daniels.
Her first children's book, The Legend of Sleeping Bear, is Michigan's Official State Children's Book.
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