David Harrison has published ninety-two titles that have earned dozens of honors, including the Christopher Award for The Book of Giant Stories. 
His work has been translated into twelve languages, anthologized more than one hundred eighty-five times, and appeared in over eighty magazines and professional journals. In Springfield, MO, David Harrison Elementary School is named for him. 
His poem, “My Book,” is sandblasted into The Children’s Garden sidewalk at the Burton Barr Library in Phoenix, Arizona and painted on a bookmobile in Pueblo, Colorado. David’s poetry inspired Sandy Asher’s popular, award winning school plays, Somebody Catch My Homework and Jesse and Grace and has been set to music performed for numerous live audiences. In 2007, the Missouri Librarian Association presented David with its Literacy Award for the body of his work. David holds science degrees from Drury and Emory universities and honorary doctor of letters degrees from Missouri State University and Drury University. He is poet laureate of Drury. 
David lives with his wife, Sandy, a business owner and retired guidance counselor. He is working on many new books.
davidlharrison1@att.net
http://davidlharrison.com
https://davidlharrison.wordpress.com
INTERVIEWS
Children's Author David L. Harrison's Blog 
Hello David,
I have discovered your site through one of my professor’s web logs and am interested in submitting a poem. How would I go about doing so? I have one ready that contains the word bone and may offer a different perspective. I know you are very busy, but if you have a spare moment, please lend my your advice.
Fair Winds,
Sidney
Sidney,
At the top of the blog posting, just to the right of the ABOUT ME tab that brought you here, click on ADULT WORD OF THE MONTH POEMS. Scroll to the bottom and enter your poem in the YOUR RESPONSE box. Then hit SUBMIT COMMENT. That’s all there is to it.
All the best,
David
Hello Mr. Harrison,
I was referred to your site by the wonderful Kathy Temean. I’ve added you to my blogroll and was delighted to read that your home is in Springfield, MO. Would you happen to know a Pansy Collins, not-to-long-retired professor of English at Evangel University?
Thank you for this opportunity. I look forward to submitting to your site.
Hello Yousei,
Welcome to my blog. I owe Kathy yet another note of thanks!
Pansy and I have been friends for many years though I haven’t seen her lately. How do you know her?
David
Hahaha! She’s my aunt, my father’s younger sister. What a very small and wonderful world. I’m not sure where she’s been lately, but I do know she had breast cancer surgery this past year. I don’t believe she was going to have to do any chemo though. Most likely, she is traveling to visit grandkids or tucked away on their farm. When you do get in touch with her, you can tell her that her naughty niece, Tawnya Smith, is blogging under a Japanese pseudonym. After some thought, writing and rewriting, I’ll submit a poem for January’s prompt. Best wishes to you in this New Year.
Hi David,
I have read and loved your poetry. I am a writer of children’s poetry as well, however yet to be published. I have a manuscript that I have worked on for several years and has gone through many revisions and has been read by many people. However, I feel as though it’s still not quite there. I was wondering if you ever read manuscripts and offer critiques for pay. Thanks so much.
Dear Mandy,
I’m delighted that you have discovered my blog and the ongoing poetry challenge. I hope to see something from you posted before long!
I’m sorry to say that I don’t get into reviewing manuscripts except in the rarest of cases when it’s part of a contract for speaking at a conference or workshop. I can barely keep up with my own work so I have to guard my time. I hope you understand my problem.
You may have noticed, though, that the participants in the word of the month poetry challenge are quite encouraging and hepful in pointing out strong points they like in one another’s work. I hope you’ll consider posting some of your work, when it fits a word of the month, and benefit from the remarks you’ll find posted afterward.
Sincerely,
David
No problem. I completely understand. Thanks for your wonderful poetry and your wonderful blog!
Mandy
hi david.
i am interested in joining your monthly poem contest and right now, i will add you into my blogroll first to have easy access to your blog for the latest developments. please excuse me for intruding into your privacy.
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an award 4 u, please take and enjoy it.
cheers, 😉
Reading about you made me see how successful you are my friend, wow beautiful.
I am in the process of writing a children’s book and have an amazing illustrator. Do you have any advice on how I should publish my book? Should I publish it on my own or go through a publisher? How then do I start to sell my book?
Would you be so kind as to reply?
Thanks
Ginge
hi david just checking in on the blog hope you get another 100,000 views
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Hello,
I have just recently discovered your site on my quest for searching for examples of poems for two voices to use with my third grade classes. What a great resource! I am very interested in the word of the month to use with my students, but I wasn’t sure of the deadline. Is it the last day of each month? I also could not figure out if this was a contest, or just a place to post children’s writing. Thank you so much for your wonderful books and website.
Hi Nancye,
I’m glad that you stopped by and like what you see. I love writing partner poems and thoroughly enjoyed myself when I worked with Tim Rasinski and Gay Fawcett to create our book, PARTNER POEMS FOR BUILDING FLUENCY. I wrote all the poems with grades 2-4 in mind. Scholastic claims on the cover that the book is for grades 4-6, which isn’t so. Turns out they already had a book of partner poems for the lower range so they decided to “promote” us to the higher grades. Anyway, your third graders should be the right age for our book (and it will make them feel pretty smart to be reading work for older kids. (:>
Word of the Month is open to everyone. I made one division for adults, one for students in grades 3-7, and one for students 8-12. It’s free and open to anyone who would like to try their luck starting with the month’s word and seeing where it takes them. The variety of poetry is wonderful. I ask teachers to limit the number of poems they post each month to three per class. We used to vote on favorites and best at the end of the month but discontinud the practice so that now it’s all about having fun without concerns for whose poem gets the most votes at the end of the month.
Every time a student’s poem is posted, adults who frequent the site are sure to post comments of support and encouragement. I ask the teacher to post the usual information along with each student’s poem: name and location of school, student’s grade, and teacher’s name. At the end of each month I remove all the poems and comments and announce the new word of the month. This month’s word is WINDOW. Let me know if you have other questions.
David
Dear David,Dear David,
I’m so happy I found your blog! The feedback is so important to me.
I have a question. I love writing zany children’s poems. But, how
can I make sure I don’t inadvertently plagiarize another’s work?
For example, I just finished a poem and one of the lines is
“I’m under the covers that cover my head”. I’ve done searches
on google, YT, and also children’s poets websites. I found
“under the covers”, but not the last part. I’m wondering if you
have any other suggestions I might use to avoid this problem.
Thank you for your time
Pat
For
Sorry about the extra Dear David and the For – Still trying.
As a percussionist, all I can say is thanx. I have used this as materials in my classes since early 70’s. Check out our site for what we do: http://www.urban15.org. I extend my respect and hope you return to this story and give us life over the hill.
George Cisneros
Music and Media Director
URBAN-15
San Antonio, TX
http://www.urban15.org
Dear George,
Many thanks for telling me that my little drummer boy has been off marching in Texas. I’m so glad that you’ve found a way to put him to use. I love your sight and am glad to learn about it. There’s more to the drummer story. If you’d like to visit about that, please send me a note at DavidLHarrison1@att.net. Thanks again.