Fourth Grade
Worksheets
Listen to the Old Ones
"My fondest memories are of sitting around a stove or open fire, eating apples and popping corn while listening to the old ones tell glorious stories about their homeland and the past." Patricia Polacco often remembers these stories as she writes. Many of her books contain these memories.
Patricia Polacco was born on July 11, 1944. She was born in Michigan. Her parents divorced when she was three years old. She and her mother lived with her grandparents. They lived on a farm. Patricia says that living on the farm was magical.
Patricia was very close with both sets of her grandparents. She says that she was the "apple of their eyes." Patricia found her grandparents interesting. She loved to hear stories about where they grew up. They lived in the Ukraine and Russia. They lived in Ireland. When Patricia was five years old, her grandmother died. She called her Babushka. Babushka is the Russian word for grandmother.
Patricia was inspired by her grandparents. They were storytellers. She was curious about what it would be like to live a long life. In almost every one of her books there is a young person who connects with an older person.
After her grandmother died, Patricia moved to Florida with her mother and brother. They lived there for three years. Then they moved to California. This is where she spent most of her childhood. She has happy memories of her neighborhood. She describes the people as different from each other. They were different colors and religions. They had different ideas. She found that even though they were different, they were also alike.
