Barbara Juster Esbensen Memorial

 
Award winning author, poet, teacher, grandmother, mother, wife, sister, and best-friend to those who knew her...

Reflections

• A Remembrance of Barbara Juster Esbensen by her husband, Tory
• Essence -- by Jane Esbensen Moore
• The Long Goodbye -- by Barbara Juster Esbensen - her own story
• Barbara's First Steps Toward Becoming A Writer

Point of View

• Remarks on Writing Nonfiction -- by Barbara Juster Esbensen
• Interview
• BJE - Profile of a Writer
• Observations from "A Celebration of Bees"

Book Reviews

• Dance With Me
• The Great Buffalo Race
• Great Northern Diver: The Loon
• Playful Slider: The North American River Otter
• Swift as the Wind: The Cheetah
• The Dream Mouse
• Who Shrank My Grandmother's House?
• Tiger With Wings: Great Horned Owl
• Words With Wrinkled Knees
• Echoes for the Eye
• The Star Maiden
• Ladder To The Sky
• Baby Whales Drink Milk
• Sponges Are Skeletons
• A Celebration of Bees

Etcetera

• First Piece of Adult Fiction
• English/Spanish Audio Version Scheduled for Thanksgiving Poem
• BookSoft Learning

Writer and Teacher

Barbara Juster Esbensen is the author of nineteen books, including seven collections of poetry. Her award-winning nature books and retellings of Native American legends have been honored by the NSTA and the NCSS/CBC as outstanding trade books in science and social studies.

In 1994, she received the NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry For Children --a lifetime achievement award. Her book, DANCE WITH ME, was honored with the 1995 Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award. Barbara's revised 1975 book for adults, A CELEBRATION OF BEES: HELPING CHILDREN WRITE POETRY gives parents and teachers strategies for encouraging children to use their image-making powers.

Barbara began her career teaching art to grades K-12. She also taught art and creative writing methods to college of education students. As a third grade classroom teacher, she used trade books across the curriculum to teach her 39 "low-achiever" third graders to read. Her first book was a collection of her poetry, SWING AROUND THE SUN, published in 1965. There was a hiatus while she raised six children. Her husband, Tory Esbensen, is a former educator who designs computerized learning materials.

Bibliography

Barbara wrote the following books, some of which have been published in other countries - France, England, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark:

• SWING AROUND THE SUN [Poetry about the seasons] (LERNER, 1965)
• COLD STARS AND FIREFLIES [Poetry] (HARPER/COLLINS 1984)
• WORDS WITH WRINKLED KNEES [Poetry using the names of animals as the animals themselves. For example, the word ELEPHANT would be a word with wrinkled knees.] (HARPER/COLLINS 1986)
• WHO SHRANK MY GRANDMOTHER'S HOUSE? [Poetry looking back at those days] (HARPER/COLLINS 1992)
• THE STAR MAIDEN [A re-telling of an Indian legend] (LITTLE, BROWN 1988)
• LADDER TO THE SKY [Another Indian legend re-told] (LITTLE, BROWN 1989)
• GREAT NORTHERN DIVER [All about a favorite bird, the loon] (LITTLE, BROWN 1990)
• TIGER WITH WINGS [Great Horned Owl] (ORCHARD 1991)
• PLAYFUL SLIDER [North American River Otter] (LITTLE, BROWN 1993)
• SPONGES ARE SKELETONS [Primary grade science information] (HARPER/COLLINS 1993)
• BABY WHALES DRINK MILK [Primary grade science information] (HARPER/COLLINS 1994)
• THE GREAT BUFFALO RACE [Indian legend] (LITTLE, BROWN 1994)
• THE DREAM MOUSE [A Lullaby Tale from Old Latvia] (LITTLE, BROWN 1995)
• A CELEBRATION OF BEES [How parents and teachers can help children write creatively] (HOLT Fall 1995))
• DANCE WITH ME [Poetry] (HARPER/COLLINS Fall 1995)
• ECHOES FOR THE EYE [Poetry about patterns in nature] (HARPER/COLLINS Spring 1996)
• SWIFT AS THE WIND [The Cheetah] (ORCHARD Spring 1996)
• THE NIGHT RAINBOW [Poetry about the northern lights] (ORCHARD Fall 1997)

Barbara Juster Esbensen Memorial

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