Patricia Polacco

Patricia Barber Polacco (born July 11, 1944) is an American author and illustrator. Throughout her school years, Polacco struggled to learn to read but found relief by expressing herself through art. Polacco endured teasing and hid her disability until a school teacher recognized she could not read and began to help her. Her book Thank You, Mr. Falker is Polacco's retelling of this encounter and its outcome.