Newbery Medal Author Kate DiCamillo

There’s an interesting Star Tribune article about Kate DiCamillo, the author of “The Tale of Despereaux,” for which she was recently awarded the 2004 Newbery Medal. DiCamillo is a shining example of perseverance. According to the article, before her first novel, “Because of Winn-Dixie,” was published, DiCamillo “suffered more than 470 rejection letters.” I can’t imagine what that must have been like and wonder what kept her going. If you’d like to know more about Kate DiCamillo’s writing habits, see the article I wrote about her after her visit to the About Children’s Books Forum, which I have since updated several times.recall recall