Elvira Woodruff’s Followers (69)

Elvira Woodruff

Born

in Somerville, New Jersey, The United States

June 19, 1951

Website

http://ewoodruff.com/

Genre

Children's Books, Historical Fiction

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Well-known for her popular children’s stories, author Elvira Woodruff had a long route to becoming a writer. In fact, one of her first jobs after leaving college was driving an ice cream truck. She has also worked as a receptionist, a janitor, a window dresser, a gardener, a shop owner, an assistant librarian, a waitress, and a storyteller. After working for several years in the children’s room of a library, Woodruff began writing professionally at the age of 35, and hasn’t stopped since.

Elvira Woodruff has always had a great imagination. She recalls, “my father was a truck driver and I would love to sit in his truck and imagine all the places he’d been. I’d sit behind the wheel, my head barely reaching the steering wheel and pretend that I Well-known for her popular children’s stories, author Elvira Woodruff had a long route to becoming a writer. In fact, one of her first jobs after leaving college was driving an ice cream truck. She has also worked as a receptionist, a janitor, a window dresser, a gardener, a shop owner, an assistant librarian, a waitress, and a storyteller. After working for several years in the children’s room of a library, Woodruff began writing professionally at the age of 35, and hasn’t stopped since.

Elvira Woodruff has always had a great imagination. She recalls, “my father was a truck driver and I would love to sit in his truck and imagine all the places he’d been. I’d sit behind the wheel, my head barely reaching the steering wheel and pretend that I was on the open road, off on some grand adventure to faraway places like Long Island, or Jersey City.”

Today, Woodruff believes that “what you have to do as a writer is to feel, look, and listen. Your stories then become a celebration of those observations. And, most important, a writer needs to fall in love. I’m constantly falling in love—with colors, with flowers, with wings, with bubbles, with mud, with goofy baby smiles. . . . When you’re writing under the influence of love, there’s a power that will weave your words into magic.”

Born and raised in New Jersey, Elvira Woodruff has also lived in Boston, Massachusetts. She has two sons, Noah and Jess. When she isn’t writing, Woodruff likes gardening—especially with blue flowers—and enjoys traveling. “[One] year I fell in love with Leonardo daVinci and flew to Italy where I rented a car and traced his footsteps from Vinci to Florence and Milan.” She also spends a lot of her time visiting schools and libraries, sharing her ideas about writing with children.

Elvira Woodruff’s book, Dear Napoleon, I Know You’re Dead, But . . ., is a clever and funny story about a boy who writes a letter to Napoleon Bonaparte for a class project, and receives a surprising reply. It has been included in numerous child-voted state award programs, including the Mark Twain Book Award program (Missouri), the Sequoyah Children’s Book Award program (Oklahoma), and the West Virginia Children’s Book Award program.
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Elvira Woodruff’s books

Average rating: 3.91 · 8,548 ratings · 1,124 reviews · 26 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Ravenmaster's Secret: Escape from the Tower of London 3.86 avg rating — 2,454 ratings — published 2003 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	George Washington's Socks 3.79 avg rating — 1,442 ratings — published 1991 — 10 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Christmas Doll 4.24 avg rating — 1,180 ratings — published 2000 — 9 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Orphan of Ellis Island 3.85 avg rating — 1,077 ratings — published 1997 — 11 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Fearless 3.84 avg rating — 319 ratings — published 2007 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	George Washington's Spy 4.08 avg rating — 273 ratings — published 2010 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Memory Coat by Elvira Woodruff, Michael Dooling (Illustrations) 4.11 avg rating — 241 ratings — published 1999 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Dear Levi: Letters from the Overland Trail 3.82 avg rating — 233 ratings — published 1994 — 10 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	To Knit or Not to Knit: Helpful and Humorous Hints for the Passionate Knitter 3.85 avg rating — 222 ratings — published 2014 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Ghosts Don't Get Goose Bumps by Elvira Woodruff, Joel Iskowitz (Illustrator) 3.92 avg rating — 176 ratings — published 1993 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Elvira Woodruff…

Series by Elvira Woodruff

Time Travel Adventure (2 books)
by

Elvira Woodruff

3.83 avg rating — 1,715 ratings

Dear Levi (3 books)
by

Elvira Woodruff

3.86 avg rating — 484 ratings

Quotes by Elvira Woodruff (?)

“I write for the kid in me. . . . Often when I’m working on a story, I’ll find myself laughing at something my characters have done, or even being surprised at where they’ve taken the story. It’s as if they have a life all their own. What I do is create them and then let them go on to entertain me. . . .”
― Elvira Woodruff

tags: storytelling, writing

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“Q and I did our history report together on George Washington,” he told them. “So if you have any questions, we can probably answer them, since we did so much research.”
“You only read one library book for that report,” Tony objected. “You can’t call one book ‘so much research.’”
“You didn’t see the size of that book, Tony,” Matt told him. “It was big. I mean really big.”
“Look, Tony, we’re not saying that we know everything about the Revolutionary War, but we did do a report on it and we do know more than you do,” Q said smugly.
“Okay, guys, let’s not waste any more time trying to decide who knows more about the Revolutionary War.”
― Elvira Woodruff, George Washington's Socks

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“I don’t know how this happened, how we ended up here. I never knew it would be like this. I’m not from here, Israel, you have to believe me. I’m from another--”
“It’s all right,” Israel interrupted him, leaning over and putting his arm around him. “I’ll look after you. We two goats, we’ll get through this together, you’ll see, and when my enlistment is up well find your Katie and you and she can come and visit me and Abby and the boys. Don’t worry, Matthew Carlton, you’ve got a friend in Israel Gates. You can depend on it.”
― Elvira Woodruff, George Washington's Socks

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