Kalli Dakos
Mini Bio

Born June 16, 1950 in Ottawa, Canada
Married with one daughter
Education: Queen's University, B.A., B.Ed.
                  University of Nevada, M.A.
Career: Teacher, reporter, free-lance writer, lecturer, consultant
Interests: Writing, teaching theater, consulting
Awards: Children's Choice Awards
             1991 - If You're Not Here, Please Raise Your 
                        Hand: Poems About School
             1994 - Don't Read This Book, Whatever You Do!:
                        More Poems About School
Kalli Dakos once commented: "I fell in love with writing when I was in the sixth grade. That year I enjoyed writing mysteries, and my teacher, Mr. Beecroft, always let me share them in front of the class. I loved the feeling of holding an audience entranced with my words, and knew that at some point in my life I would work as a writer. But I also wanted to be a teacher and spent years playing teacher with my younger sisters, neighbors, etc. I was a counselor in summer camps, and I loved running drop-in programs for students who were disadvantaged."

Later as a certified teacher, Kalli taught elementary school in various places in Canada, including a year in a small town 120 miles above the Arctic Circle. "I had one of the most fascinating years of my life teaching in Inuvik, Northwest Territories." There she encountered children with severe reading problems, which influenced her to pursue her master's degree to help better prepare her for teaching students with those types of  serious reading difficulties.

While working on her master's in Reno, Nevada, Kalli began her writing career by submitting short stories and articles to children's magazines.  A move to Syracuse, New York, a few years later led to her studying journalism and writing free-lance for the local papers. She left her teaching career temporarily to pursue a writing career, but eventually found it to be too lonely for her and wanted to get back in the classroom. She discovered the teaching environment saturated with wonderful story ideas, which soon manifested themselves in the form of poetry. She even drafted students to help her rewrite and revise, which inspired many of them to write poems themselves.

Kalli's first book of poems, If You're Not Here, Please Raise Your Hand: Poems about School, was published by Four Winds Press. She began visiting schools everywhere as an author, using humor, props, and theatrics to motivate children to write.

Betty Teague, a reviewer for School Library Journal, commented: "Dakos has a lighthearted style and shows much warmth and understanding of her audience." Other reviewers equally praise Dakos' writings as "having a wide appeal" and "conveying a child's point of view."

Writings By Kalli Dakos:

What's There to Write About?, Scholastic, 1989

If You're Not Here, Please Raise Your Hand: Poems about School, illustrated by G. Brian Karas, Four Winds Press, 1990

Don't Read This Book, Whatever You Do!: More Poems about School, illustrated by Karas, Four Winds Press, 1993.

Mrs. Cole on an Onion Roll, and Other School Poems, illustrated by JoAnn Adinolfi, Simon & Schuster, 1995.

The Goof Who Invented Homework and Other School Poems, illustrated by Denise Brunkus, Dial, 1996.

Get Out of the Alphabet, Number 21: Wacky Wednesday Puzzle Poems, illustrated by Jenny Graham, Simon & Schuster, 1997.

The Bug in Teacher's Coffee, illustrated by Mike Reed, HarperCollins, 1999.

Contributor to periodicals, including Instructor, Young American, Child Life, Challenge, Chicadee, Jack and Jill, Children's Playmate, and Learning.

Kalli Dakos' website: http://www.kallidakos.com

Home

All of the information about Kalli Dakos on this webpage and more can be found at the http://galenet.galegroup.com website, accessed through the TexShare databases.

Poetry Breaks - Kalli's Poems
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