Charles Ghigna ("Father Goose") (born August 25, 1946) is an American children's author, poet, speaker and nationally syndicated feature writer.
He is the author of more than 5,000 poems and 40 award-winning books from Random House, Knopf, Disney, Hyperion, Scholastic, Simon & Schuster, Running Press, Harry N. Abrams, Inc., and other publishers. His books have been featured on ABC-TV’s "Good Morning America," PBS, NPR, and selected by the Book-of-the-Month Club and awarded the Parents' Choice Book Award. His poems for children and adults have appeared in numerous textbooks and anthologies and in magazines ranging from Highlights, Ranger Rick and Cricket to Harper’s and The New Yorker.
He lives in Homewood, Alabama (U.S.) with his author-wife, Debra Ghigna.
Ghigna served as poetry editor of The English Journal for the National Council of Teachers of English (1973—1974) and as poet-in-residence for the Alabama School of Fine Arts (1974—1993). He has presented poetry readings and programs at the Library of Congress, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the American Library in Paris, the International Schools of South America and at hundreds of other schools, colleges, conferences, libraries, book fairs, and literary events throughout the U.S. and overseas.
The themes of his books and poetry reflect a celebration of childhood, as well as a reverence for nature and animals. His other subjects and themes include humor, holidays, riddles, seasons, school, sports, and the power of a positive attitude. [1]1
Also noteworthy, the world’s shortest poem in the English language goes to his credit. Until Ghigna’s one letter title poem, which is the same as the body of the poem “I” Why? the shortest poem in the English language was thought to be “Fleas” whose authorship has often been debated [2].
With thousand of poems, over 40 books, and numerous other works to his credit, Charles Ghigna, the well noted Alabamian author and poet has provided volumes upon volumes of significant works that will undoubtedly stand the test of time and will entertain and inspire generations to come.
Ghigna was born August 25, 1946 in Bayside, Long Island, New York. His parents Charles and Patricia relocated to Ft. Myers, Florida when he was five. He attended public school in Ft. Myers where his talent for writing first got attention. While in the third grade, an essay about a talking freckle on a boy’s face got Ghigna a great deal of attention. Although he enjoyed writing, after some of this classmates began teasing him about writing he stopped and took up baseball. He developed a love for the game which he continued to play through high school, and even tried out with the Pittsburg Pirates [4].While in his teens, Ghigna began to write again secretly in journals, a practice he has continued. His love of writing was developed early and became apparent as he grew older. Upon entering college, writing, especially writing poetry, became a major focus for him. In college his passion for poetry continued to grow. It was through encounters in high school with an English teacher and the work of poet Archibald McLeish, that this love for poetry was ignited. Until then he saw poetry as something one had to memorize, recite in front of the entire class and then have your teacher explain its meaning. Simply it was for sissies and grandmothers. Ghigna’s perspective of poetry changed after being exposed by his English teacher to the idea of “show don’t tell.” Ghigna also learned something about poetry from Archibald McLeish who said, “A poem should not mean, but be” [3]. These chance encounters sparked a love that grew into a burning torch that Ghigna still carries today.
Ghigna earned his Bachelors Degree from Florida Atlantic University in 1967 and his Masters in 1970. He taught English and creative writing at Cypress Lake Senior High School in Ft. Myers from 1967-1973. In 1973, he left high school and began teaching creative writing at Edison College before leaving to attend post-graduate courses in English and creative writing at Florida State University. While at FSU he served as poetry editor for English Journal published by the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).
In 1974, Ghigna moved to Birmingham, Alabama where he was a poet-in-residence at the Alabama School of Fine Arts. He worked there until 1993. During his years in Alabama, he worked with Alabama Educational Television where he created, directed, and performed in the children’s television series, Cabbages and Kings (1976), was an instructor of creative writing at Samford University (1979), became a correspondent for the Writer’s Digest magazine (1989) and authorized a national syndicated feature “Snickers” for Tribune Media Services (1993—1998) (Charles Ghigna, 2005).
By 1993, Ghigna’s work had not only been published but also won him numerous awards and honors. He also acquired the nickname “Father Goose,” an allusion to Mother Goose, which had been given to him by teachers and librarians when he began to share his poetry at schools and libraries. The name was adopted as children found Father Goose was easier to say and remember than Ghigna (Jesus & London, 2008). A change in Ghigna's career took place as he left teaching and began writing full-time after signing a four-book contract with Hyperion Books for children in 1992, in order to “reach more children by writing books of poetry to share with them during my visits” ([www.charlesghigna.com]).
Writing poetry, especially for children, became the major focus for Ghigna, but he also continued to write for adults when the ideas presented themselves. Ghigna once said “ I hope my poems offer children an opportunity to explore and celebrate the joys of childhood and nature humorous poems tickle the funny bone of their imagination.” (Charles Ghigna, 2005). “When he writes poetry or shares poetry with young people and teachers” he remembers the feelings of joy and “new sense of discovery” that he experienced after leaving English class (Ghigna, 2003). Through his continued accomplishments and ever growing list of literary works, Ghigna continues fulfilling these hopes and dreams today. He lives in Homewood, Alabama.
Ghigna’s influences on his early writing attempts included his parents, especially his creative mother, poets Robert Frost, Carl Sandburg, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Sara Teasdale, Ogden Nash, John Updike, and James Dickey [7]. Today he also finds that other people and situations evoke ideas when least expected.
Ideas for Ghigna’s poems rarely come from a preconceived goal. Rather, they come while going through routine daily activities: talking to children or his son, mowing the lawn, driving down the road, his childhood, etc-really anywhere! As ideas come, he writes them down on anything handy, a napkin, hotel stationery, scraps of paper, sticky notes, yellow legal tablets, or anything he can quickly get his hands on when not at his computer to make sure he does not forget anything [4]. Writing is something he does every single day in his "treehouse" located in the attic of his home, unless he has to be away for a conference or another trip. Even when he is gone from home, Ghigna writes as much as possible.
Although Ghigna has written serious works for adults, it is his unique sense of humor and rhyme that dominate as he develops a story or poem for children. The humor found in many of his literary works comes from viewing everyday objects, people, or situations through the eyes of a child. Simple everyday objects can become the focus of poems that develop into a book of poems as in Animal Tracks: Wild Poems to Read Aloud (2004). In this book, poems demonstrate connections between animals and people through the use of puns. The anthropomorphized animals make learning about animals fun and enjoyable.
When writing A Fury of Motion: Poems for Boys (2003) Ghigna had a specific goal in mind. A friend reminded him of a statement once made by poet John Ciardi that he “wished he has written a book of poems for boys who hated poetry.” This, along with his recollection of his own personal feelings as a young boy as well as having a son of his own, were the reasons for setting the goal for his particular book (Ghigna, 2003).
Ghigna’s poetry ranges from his free form adult works to his use of rhymes in children’s works. His poems’ wide span of styles and subjects offers everyone from 1 to 100 something to enjoy.Award-winning Tickle Day: Poems from Father Goose (1994), which was chosen 'Pick of the List' from American Booksellers Association, is a collection of 30 poems previously submitted to magazines. It includes a variety of topics and was described by Debra Briatico in Children’s Literature Review([1]) as filled with “energy and enthusiasm.” The poems make everyday familiar things like bug watching or avoiding naptime fun and entertaining for children (Charles Ghigna, 2005).
Another 'Pick of the List,' Riddle Rhymes (1995) takes riddles and gives them an added twist by putting them in verse form. This is just another example of Ghigna’s ability to create a different yet unique presentation of an everyday form. The School Library Journal review found this book to be a “lighthearted guessing game” that children enjoyed while trying to answer the riddles (Charles Ghigna, 2005).
Score! 50 Poems to Motivate and Inspire (2008), teaches children develop character through short poems. These quick lessons are simple and easy for children to understand and can be used not only to motivate children but also to encourage them. Snow Wonder (2008), is an easy reader that gives two children’s account of the day after waking to find a snow on a wintry day. Their activities are common place and because children can easily relate to them makes reading an enjoyable experience as they relive their enjoyment of snow. These few examples of the numerous works written by Ghigna demonstrate the variety offered in his many selections.
Ghigna’s approach to writing is one of total abandonment since this tends to bring him the best ideas. This process allows his ideas to take him where they want to go and from these he takes the ones that “generate enough heat and excitement” to create something good. According to Ghigna, writing with as much passion as possible and letting yourself be taken by ideas to unexpected places is the only way to get the good stuff to write[7] . Putting ideas down is only the beginning of the process when working to create and develop works for children. An important step to remember is the element of voice which Ghigna finds by imagining himself “whispering a big secret to someone special,” beginning with the magical words “Now listen to this” (Ghigna, Importance of Voice p 3).
In his free time, Ghigna enjoys “writing, reading, walking, doing crossword puzzles, and collecting old picture books, especially Mother Goose books [4]. He also collects kaleidoscopes, baseball cards, and geese sent to him by fans in honor of “Father Goose.” Ghigna reports that the geese tend to sneak around the room and visit when he leaves at night however they are usually well-behaved (Charles Ghigna, 2005).
Ghigna's hard work and dedication have earned him numerous awards and honors including, but not limited to, the following:
Fellowship Grants from the National Endowment for the Arts; the Mary Roberts Reinehart Foundation; the Rockefeller Brothers Fund; and the Library of Congress (Laubenthal, 2007).
Writer’s Digest, National Poetry Writing Competition for “Divers,” - first place
International Sakira Haiku Writing Competition for “October,”- first place
Pulitzer Prize nomination for Returning to Earth
Helen Keller Literary Award
American Booksellers Association 'Pick of the List' for Tickle Day: Poems from Father Goose and for Riddle Rhymes
Book-of-the-Month - Parents Club featured in Scholastic book
