He has been entertaining and inspiring young people with his writing since the publication of Don’t Look and It Won’t Hurt in 1972. Since then, he has published one book per year, winning the coveted Newbery Medal in 2001 for A Year Down Yonder, and he is the first children’s author to receive a National Humanities Medal. Now Richard Peck has agreed to be the National Author Guest of Honor at KidLit 2010 this coming September.

“I’m so thrilled he’s coming,” said LuAnn Salz, coordinator of KidLit. “I remember reading Don’t Look and It Won’t Hurt when I was a teen. The book held a particular meaning for me, and has stayed with me all these years.” KidLit coordinator Chad Brokaw said, “We are very pleased to have a Newbery Award-winning author and Illinois native as our National Author Guest of Honor. Peck's novels bring a sense of familiarity to those of us who live in the Midwest.”

Mr. Peck was born and raised in Decatur, Illinois, an area he often refers to as the “real Illinois.” His first writing job was ghost-writing sermons for chaplains while he was stationed in Germany. He later went on to teach junior high English in Illinois and New York, leaving education to write full time in 1971. His books get their inspiration from those students. "Ironically, it was my students who taught me to be a writer, though I had been hired to teach them," he said in a speech published in Arkansas Libraries.