Charles Ghigna

Charles Ghigna

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 60 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 is the recipient of grants and awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, the Mary Roberts Rinehart Foundation, and 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.