Ted Kooser : University of Nebraska Press : 9781496236777 : 1496236777 : 30 Nov 2023 : Named a Best New Children's Book of 2023 by NCompass Live Paterson Prize for Books for Young People Winner 2024 Midwest Book Award Winner for Children's Nonfiction 2024 Nebraska Book Award Winner Semifinalist for 2024 Society of Midland Authors Award Longlist for Reading the West Book Award  Long before Ted Kooser won a Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, served as the U.S. Poet Laureate, and wrote award-winning books for children, he was an unathletic child growing up in Iowa, yearning to fit in. Young Teddy found solace in stories, and one specific book, Robert McCloskey's Lentil, inspired him to become a writer. As a child and later, while working in the insurance industry, Ted honed his craft and unique style as he wrote about the people and places of the rural Midwest. Ted Kooser: More Than a Local Wonder celebrates the power of stories and of finding oneself through words.