Natalie Babbitt was born in Dayton, Ohio in 1932, and although she grew up only wanting to pursue a career illustrating children’s books, her talents for writing eventually led her into a long and prolific profession as a children’s author as well. Her first book, The Forty-Ninth Magician, was a joint-effort with her husband Samuel Fischer Babbitt in which Natalie provided the illustrations for Samuel’s text. Although she continued illustrating, Natalie was soon writing books on her own, and consequently authored classics like The Search for Delicious, Knee-Knock Rise, and Tuck Everlasting, which was adapted into a popular movie by Disney. Babbitt has been the recipient of many prestigious awards, including a Newbery Notable Book citation for Knee-Knock Rise and a New York Times Best Book for Children award for The Search for Delicious. Her many works have proven to be both delightful reads for children and invaluable educational tools for teachers.

Bibliography

• Natalie Babbitt Papers: In addition to a complete bibliography, this site also contains an extensive index of manuscripts, reviews and correspondence concerning the author and her career.
• Natalie Babbitt Resources and Links: This page includes a list of books written about Natalie Babbitt.
• Natalie Babbitt: Selected Bibliography: This abridged bibliography is not too overbearing for students looking for a list of Babbitt’s work.

Biggest Works

• Hard Religious Questions in Knee-Knock Rise and Tuck Everlasting: This article examines the religious implications prominent in Babbitt’s two most famous works.
• Natalie Babbitt Interview Transcript: In this interview conducted by Scholastic students, the author discusses her books The Search for Delicious and Tuck Everlasting.
• Review of Tuck Everlasting: Carol Hurst provides a review of the book that is geared towards students and provides questions for them to ponder while reading.
• Review of Jack Plank Tells Tales: Helpful review of Babbitt’s book for parents and children.
• Reviews of The Devil's Other Storybook: This page contains Publisher’s Weekly and School Library Journal reviews for the book.

Lesson Plans

• Lesson Plan for Tuck Everlasting: This lesson plan for Babbitt’s most famous work is designed for sixth-grade children.
• Tuck Everlasting Science Activity: This science project based on Babbitt’s book helps students learn about the life cycle and ecosystem of frogs.
• Tuck Everlasting Study Guide: Twenty-Two pages of information including worksheets, vocabulary and activities for lessons on Tuck Everlasting.
• Tuck Everlasting Debate Exercise: This debate exercise allows students to research and debate several controversial issues prominent in the book.
• English Lesson Plans for Tuck Everlasting: The activities in this lesson plan are geared toward sixth-grade English/Language Arts students.
• Knee-Knock Rise Literature Unit: This page contains lots of useful resources for teaching Babbitt’s book: quiz questions, book report forms, vocabulary-building crosswords and word searches, and much more.
• Natalie Babbitt Quizzes: Several fun quizzes and trivia questions for students reading books by Babbitt.
• ReadWriteThink: Lesson Plan: After reading Tuck Everlasting, this lesson plan for grades 3-5 encourages students to explore nonfiction topics connected to the book.

Natalie Babbitt’s books and illustrations have continued to remain fresh and relevant over the last half-century, cementing her role as an icon of Children’s Literature. She is currently 77 years old and resides in Providence, Rhode Island. Jack Plank Tells Tales is her latest book.