Ted Kooser

Winner of the 2024 Paterson Prize for Books for Young People Winner of the 2024 Midwest Book Award Winner of the 2024 Nebraska Book Award Semifinalist for 2024 Society of Midland Authors Award Longlisted for the Reading the West Book Award Named a Best New Children's Book of 2023 by NCompass Live Long before Ted Kooser won a Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, served as the U.S. Poet Laureate, and wrote award-winning books for children, he was an unathletic child growing up in Iowa, yearning to fit in. Young Teddy found solace in stories, and one specific book, Robert McCloskey's Lentil, inspired him to become a writer. As a child and later, while working in the insurance industry, Ted honed his craft and unique style as he wrote about the people and places of the rural Midwest. Ted Kooser: More Than a Local Wonder celebrates the power of stories and of finding oneself through words. Access a discussion guide.