Tush

Patricia Polacco is an American author and illustrator of children's books, born in Lansing, Michigan, in 1944. Reliable publisher and reference sources describe her as a longtime favorite with young readers, especially for stories shaped by family memories, immigrant heritage, and everyday acts of kindness.

Her books often bring together people from different backgrounds and generations, which is part of what makes them so enduring. She is also open about struggling to read as a child before finding confidence through art and storytelling, an experience that helped inspire some of her best-known work.

Polacco has written and illustrated many widely loved picture books, including The Keeping Quilt, Chicken Sunday, and Thank You, Mr. Falker. In Mrs. Katz and Tush, the same gift for tenderness and human connection shines through in a story about friendship, tradition, and caring for others.