John

Coy

Award Winning Children’s Author

Young Adult Novelist

Travels from: Minneapolis, MN

“Outstanding in all ways, this title deserves a place in most collections and adds a wonderful opportunity for upper elementary students (and higher!) to unpack our complicated histories.” ― starred review of Where We Come From, School Library Journal

John Coy is the author of young adult novels, the 4 for 4 middle-grade series, and nonfiction and fiction picture books including Night Driving, Hoop Genius, Two Old Potatoes and Me, Their Great Gift, Dads, My Mighty Journey, and the unique collaboration Where We Come From. This fall he has three new picture books, The Secret of Fall, Stokes: The Brief Career of the NBA’s First Black Superstar, written with Ty Chapman, and So Cold!

He has received numerous awards for his work including a Marion Vannett Ridgway Award, a Charlotte Zolotow Honor, a Bank Street College Best Book of the Year, the Burr/Warzalla Award for Distinguished Achievement in Children’s Literature, and the Kerlan Award in recognition of singular attainments in the creation of children’s literature.

John loves visiting schools and libraries across the country and around the world to discuss the process of creating a book, work with students and adults on their writing, and answer questions about reading, writing, and being an author. He lives by the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

John's Featured Titles

Creating a Picture Book

At first glance, picture books seem remarkably simple. Behind this simplicity, however, are days, months, and years of hard work. In this presentation, John will explore the steps of picture book creation from draft, through revisions, rejections, more revisions, editing, to finished book. John will show examples and discuss how the writer, editor, illustrator, art director, editorial director, publicist, lawyer, and sales staff all work together to make a book and get it into the hands of readers. John will ask questions throughout to engage the audience and will respond to questions.

Where Do You Get Your Ideas?

For many students, coming up with writing ideas is a challenge. But these same students are full of ideas. In this presentation, John will explore the process of getting started and examine ways students can develop ideas that they naturally have. He will discuss the necessity of not being too critical at this early stage in order to have multiple possibilities to choose from. John will show examples from his own early drafts and demonstrate guaranteed ways to find interesting ideas.

Revision: Seeing Your Story Again

Of all the aspects of writing, revision is the most difficult. Today’s students live in a world of fast changes, and getting them to go back and revise writing is a major challenge. John will share simple and effective tips for helping students revise. He will read selections of his own work to show the necessity of revision and will conduct exercises so students will see the improvement in their own writing quickly.

Writing a Young Adult Novel

Young adult novels provide a unique opportunity to explore character, plot, scene, voice, and ideas through the eyes of a young person. John will talk about how he organizes these elements and the surprising amount of work that is done away for the desk. John will share examples of drafts, revisions, and advance copies to show the steps a manuscript goes through on its way to becoming a YA novel. Questions are encouraged and welcomed.

It's Boring: Boys and Reading

Many boys and men don’t like to read. Why? In a first grade class, students are excited about letters and words and cracking the secret code that is reading. But by fourth and fifth grade, many boys have decided they don’t like reading. John will explore some of the larger reasons boys get turned off from reading and offer specific suggestions to address the genuine interests of boys and get them engaged in reading again.

It's True: New and Improved Nonfiction

Lately, we have had a strong emphasis on nonfiction, which some people now call informational text to not imply a hierarchy with fiction. This is a major switch for fiction lovers and many of us have a bias about nonfiction that we might not even be aware of. In this presentation, John will discuss the creativity and originality of some recent nonfiction and the connection it has with major aspects of storytelling. We can expand our definitions of fiction, nonfiction, and informational text and see how they can all work together to benefit students and teachers.

Seeing Ourselves as Writers

Many teachers and librarians are people who loved to read and write as students. As adults, however, they may have limited opportunity to write for reflection and enjoyment. In this workshop, we will examine how writing was taught to us and what lessons we took from that. We’ll explore aspects of writing such as generating ideas, creating drafts, and making stories better through revision. We’ll also examine some common obstacles that hold us back in writing. This is an excellent opportunity to challenge our notions of who is a writer and in doing so to gain new insights into exciting ways writing can be taught.

“John Coy was amazing! He keep our middle school students engaged by asking them questions and having them vote on a short list of possible answers. The correct answers made them focus on his writing and publishing stories. Because he grew up near our area, his statement that anyone can be an author if they work hard to make their best story possible resonated with our students. He especially emphasized the need to draft, edit, get feedback, edit, and edit some more which was greatly appreciated. His story of determination and grit to be an author will influence our students long after this school year ends.”―Cameron Middle School, 2024

“John Coy is a great writer and a natural teacher. He builds a powerful connection with students in a short amount of time. He recognizes young writers as individuals and encourages them to write from the heart while also improving their writing skills and experimenting with new techniques. He is cheerful and positive and has excellent classroom management. He plans his sessions to have a nice balance of creative writing exercises as well as plenty of time for students to write and apply what they have just learned. In short, a dream presenter!”―Colleen Feller, Director, Success Beyond the Classroom, 2023

“John is simply the best! The way he connects with our students year after year is remarkable. He engages them in conversation about his own experiences as an author having to persevere through revisions and rejections, and then he inspires them to believe in themselves as writers capable of doing the same thing. Even our most reluctant writers put pencil to paper with John’s encouragement and finish believing they, too, can be authors. I cannot recommend John highly enough!”―Laurie Holland, Media Specialist, Concord Elementary School, 2023

“John is a cornerstone to our conferences. He is always ready to engage and support our students and finds time to connect with each and every one of them individually. His personal touch helps our conferences stand out and gives students memories and motivation alike.”―Phillip Olsen, Student Academics Coordinator, Sourcewell, 2023

“John is a thoughtful, clear, and engaging presenter. I appreciate his rare talent for bringing people together as a group and at the same time treating them as individuals. He engages listeners’ senses and awareness of themselves in the world, making the experience wonderfully memorable.”―Natalie Rusk, Lifelong Kindergarten Group, the Media Lab, MIT, 2023

John’s Main link for Educators

Presentations for Educators

Curriculum Resources

John’s Link for Boys and Reading

John’s Articles

Reader’s Theater Script for Strong to the Hoop

Strong to the Hoop Link

Reader’s Theater Script for Night Driving

Activity Guide Link for Where We Come From

Activity Guide Link for Hoop Genius

Honors, Awards & Recognition

Winner of the 2023 Carter G. Woodson Book Award
White Raven List of the International Youth Library for Best Books of 2023
Finalist for the 2023 Heartland Booksellers Award
Marion Vannett Ridgway Award for excellence in an author’s or illustrator’s first picture book, 1997
Loft/McKnight Award for Children’s Literature, Honorable Mention, 2003
Charlotte Zolotow Award for Outstanding Writing in a Picture Book, Honor, 2004
Mentor for the Shabo Mentorship in Children’s Literature from The Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis, 2006
Winner of the 2016 Elizabeth Burr/Worzalla Award for Distinguished Achievement in Children’s Literature by the Wisconsin Library Association Youth Services Section
Winner of the 2017 Correll Book Award for Excellence in Early Childhood Informational Text
Kerlan Award for 2017 in recognition of singular attainments in the creation of children’s literature and in appreciation for generous donations of resources to the Kerlan Collection for the study of children’s literature
Riverby Award Winner for 2020 for exceptional nature book for young readers by the John Burroughs Association
Nominated for 2021 Green Earth Book Award by the Nature Generation
Finalist for the Minnesota Book Award in Children’s Literature in 2023

Media clips

University of Minnesota | John Coy wins 2017 Kerlan Award

StarTribune | After an accident, author John Coy sees fall in a new light

Green Bay Gazette | De Pere student: I wrote my first fiction series in fourth grade, a novel at 10. I’m 13 and hope to inspire future writers

Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators | Sunday Author Chat: Coffee & Conversation with John Coy!

Only Picture Books | Author Interview: John Coy

School Library Journal | Where We Come From: The Rare Cover Reveal AND 4-Way Interview!

Media Kit

By clicking the link below you will be directed to a Google Docs Folder
where you can download author photos and cover images.

Coy