Denise Lewis Patrick was born in Natchitoches, Louisiana on September 30, 1957. She attended local schools, earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Journalism from Northwestern State University of Louisiana in 1977, and moved to New York City that same year.

Today Denise lives in New Jersey, and is married with four sons. She has written over 25 books for preschoolers, beginning readers and middle graders.

“I come from a storytelling and talking family. My father wrote poetry, and that’s what I began writing when I was eight years old. I even handwrote and bound my own books. Reading has always been as great a passion for me as writing is. Now I encourage my sons to read, read, read. We have as much fun in a bookstore as we do in a toy store!”

Denise Lewis Patrick
for school visits.

Summers at Ma Dear’s House (Just Us Books) ’04
Jackie Robinson: Strong Inside and Out (HarperCollins) ’05
Got To Give It Up (Henry Holt) ’04

Middle Grade Novels
The Longest Ride (Henry Holt) ’99
The Adventures of Midnight Son (Henry Holt) ’97

A Lesson for Martin Luther King, Jr. (Aladdin)’03
John and Abigail Adams (Time For Kids/Harcourt) ’03

Shaina’s Garden (Aladdin) ’96
I Can See a Rainbow (SRA/Macmillan) ’94
The Car Washing Street (Tambourine) ’94
Red Dancing Shoes (Tambourine) ’93
Red Dancing Shoes (paper, Mulberry) ’98

I Can Count (Golden/Essence) ’96
No Diapers for Baby (Golden/Essence) ’96
Goodnight, Baby (Golden) ’93
The Jungle Book (adaptation, Golden) ’92
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (adaptation, Golden) ’92