THE KENNEDY CENTER
Lois Lowry
Thursday, February 4
11a.m.-12 p.m. ET
Grades 4-8
Curriculum Connections: Language Arts
Language Arts Standards sponsored by the National
Council of Teachers of English and the International
Reading Association: 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 9, 11
Who is Lois Lowry?
Lois Lowry was born in Honolulu, Hawaii before it
became part of the United States, but grew up in
many places, including New York City, Carlisle, PA,
and Tokyo, Japan. Her father was career military
which required the family to move often.
She describes herself as a solitary child, who spent
a great deal of time alone, able to use her
imagination and to read avidly. She attributes her
alone time to being the middle child with an older
sister and a younger brother.
About the Program
Lois Lowry discusses not only her books
but some of the recurring themes and
the influence of her life’s experiences.
She also reveals her approach to
writing, the role of research in her
writing, why she chooses to write for
young people, and more. Additionally,
Ms. Lowry reads aloud from her books
to highlight the discussion points.
After World War II, an 11-year old Lois moved with
her family to Tokyo. She returned to the U.S. for
high school and college. Lowry married before finishing college and moved with her Navy
husband to Maine where she raised her four children and completed college degrees.
After her marriage ended, Lowry moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts and began writing
professionally. She remains there and continues to write an ever-broader range of books for
readers of all ages.
The Professional and Highly Acclaimed Writer
While always a writer who kept journals and wrote professionally as a
journalist, Lowry was also a photographer. It was her journalism,
however, that captured the attention of a publisher who invited Lowry to
write her first book for young people.
Lowry’s first book, A Summer to Die (Houghton), was published in 1977
and remains in print. This poignant novel deals with difficult themes,
based on Lowry’s real-life loss of a much-loved older sister to cancer. This
work was to signify Lowry’s future as a powerful writer of widely read and
highly acclaimed books.
Her books are varied, evocative, and clearly bound to her experiences.
They continue to be warmly received by readers of all ages as well as by
critics. She is one of only five American authors to have received the
prestigious Newbery Medal two times for very different works.
Number the Stars was awarded the Newbery Medal in 1990. It is set in
Denmark during World War II during the Nazi occupation of the country.
In it, not quite 11-year-old Annemarie and her family help Jews escape to
Sweden. This riveting novel incorporates the actual memories of one of
Lowry’s friends who lived in Denmark as a child and was further inspired by
a letter found during Lowry’s research for the novel.
A very different book, The Giver, received the Newbery Medal in 1994. It is
speculative fiction which presents a world which seems to be utopian. The
society in which Jonas lives, however, is not ideal at all but something quite
different. Jonas’s chilling world is all together plausible. The story started
in The Giver continues in two sequels, Gathering Blue and The Messenger.
Who is Lois Lowry?, cont.
Lowry has written several series of books about memorable families with main (and unforgettable)
female characters. Perhaps there are parts of the author in Anastasia Krupnik, Caroline Tate, and
Gooney Bird Greene.
The author examines her own life and memories in Looking Back, an honest and revealing memoir.
Lowry continues to expand as a writer. Her recent books include humor for younger readers,
parody, and her first picture book. Readers know that when they read a book by Lois Lowry, they are
in the hands of a skilled writer.
Instructional Activities
Reading/Writing
Lowry took the photographs used on the covers of
both of her Newbery Medal–winning books. How
might you describe the faces of the Giver and
Annemarie (Number the Stars)? How does your
description compare to the characterization the
author presents in the text?
Read Crow Call. What is the main theme of the
book? What makes the theme universal? Write about one of your
experiences with or a memory of you with a family member. (It can be real or
imagined.). Try to incorporate the theme used by Lowry in your story.
Crow Call and Number the Stars are set in a similar time period (the 1940s). Though one is a
novel, and one is a short story that has been illustrated to appear to be a picture book, compare
primary elements. For example, what do Annemarie and the narrator of Crow Call share in
common? How do they differ?
At the end of The Willoughbys, the author includes a bibliography of older books. Which of
these books have you read? If you haven’t read any, visit a library to find one. After reading it,
write a review to express your opinion of it. Do you see any elements of it in The Willoughbys?
Research/History
In the author’s note in Number the Stars, Lowry discusses the actual story of
Denmark during World War II. To the Danish people, their king, Christian
X, remained a hero. Research King Christian X. Find out more about how
his actions inspired the loyalty of his countrymen as well as saved lives.
Locate the full piece from which the title, Number the Stars, is drawn. How
does the one line fit into the whole? How does it relate to the novel?
The Willoughbys includes a glossary at the end of the book with the author’s
own definitions of each word included. Check an online or print dictionary
to learn more standard definitions and the words’ etymology, or history.
Resources
Internet Resources
Lois Lowry official website, including the author’s blog: http://www.loislowry.com
Library of Congress web resources on World War II:
http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/WW2/WW2bib.html
Select Books by Lois Lowry
The first books of a series:
All About Sam (1988), Anastasia Krupnik (1979), Gooney Bird Greene (2002), The One
Hundredth Thing About Caroline (1983)
Newbery Medal Winners:
The Giver (1993), Number the Stars (1989)
Select Stand-Alones:
Autumn Street (1980), Crow Call (2009), Gossamer (2006), Looking Back (1998), Summer
to Die (1977), The Willoughbys (2008)