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Barbara Park Biography, Books, and Similar Authors

Author Biography  | Books by this Author  | Read-Alikes

Barbara Park
Random House

Barbara Park

Barbara Park Biography

Barbara Park was best-known as the creator and author of the New York Times bestselling Junie B. Jones series, the stories of an outrageously funny kindergartener who has kept kids (and their grownups) laughing—and reading—for over two decades. Published by Random House Books for Young Readers, the series has sold 55 million copies in North America alone, has been translated into multiple languages and is a beloved and time-honored staple in elementary school classrooms around the world.

The series was consistently a #1 New York Times bestseller, spending over 180 weeks on the list, and Barbara and her books were profiled in such national outlets as Time, Newsweek, USA Today, The New York Times, and Today.

Park died on November 15, 2013, after fighting ovarian cancer heroically for seven and a half years.

Barbara won more than forty children's book awards, including several Children's Choice Awards. Throughout her life, Barbara was passionate about supporting many causes. She was a "wish" for several children participating in the Make-a-Wish Foundation and would dedicate her upcoming books to kids whose dying wish was to meet her. Barbara also founded her own charitable organization with her husband, Richard—Sisters in Survival ("SIS"), a nonprofit organization dedicated to offering financial assistance to ovarian cancer patients. SIS is an all-volunteer organization, and all donations go directly to women struggling with ovarian cancer.



This bio was last updated on 11/21/2013. In a perfect world, we would like to keep all of BookBrowse's biographies up to date, but with many thousands of lives to keep track of it's simply impossible to do. So, if the date of this bio is not recent, you may wish to do an internet search for a more current source, such as the author's website or social media presence. If you are the author or publisher and would like us to update this biography, send the complete text and we will replace the old with the new.

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Books by this Author

Books by Barbara Park at BookBrowse
The Graduation of Jake Moon jacket
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Read-Alikes

All the books below are recommended as read-alikes for Barbara Park but some maybe more relevant to you than others depending on which books by the author you have read and enjoyed. So look for the suggested read-alikes by title linked on the right.
How we choose read-alikes

  • Peter Dickinson

    Peter Dickinson

    Peter Dickinson, born in 1927, has written more than fifty novels for adults and young readers; and has won both the Carnegie Medal and the Whitbread Children's Award twice.

    He is a tall, elderly, bony, beaky, ... (more)

    If you enjoyed:
    The Graduation of Jake Moon

    Try:
    Inside Grandad
    by Peter Dickinson

  • Katherine Hannigan

    Katherine Hannigan

    Katherine Hannigan was raised in western New York. She has undergraduate degrees in education and secondary mathematics, and painting. Her graduate degree is in studio art. She has worked as the education coordinator for a ... (more)

    If you enjoyed:
    The Graduation of Jake Moon

    Try:
    Ida B
    by Katherine Hannigan

We recommend 3 similar authors

View all 3 Read-Alikes

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  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
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