The Father Goose House
The Father Goose House is a 95-year-old English Tudor cottage located in the old Edgewood section of Homewood, Alabama,
home to Debra and Charles Ghigna for the past 48 years. Affectionately known as "Father Goose," Charles has written more than
100 books and 5,000 poems in The Father Goose House. His writing room which he calls his "treehouse" is located in the attic.
Father Goose
Birmingham, Alabama
Vulcan Park
(photo by Scott Pierce)
Charles Ghigna - Father Goose® is the author of more than 100 books from Disney, Random House, Scholastic, Simon & Schuster, Time Inc. and other publishers, and more than 5000 poems, many of which appear in textbooks, anthologies, newspapers, and magazines including The New Yorker, Harper’s, Rolling Stone, The Village Voice, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, as well as in Highlights, Cricket and numerous other magazines for children. He served as poet-in-residence and chair of creative writing at the Alabama School of Fine Arts, instructor of creative writing at Samford University, poetry editor of English Journal for the National Council of Teachers of English, and as a nationally syndicated poetry feature writer for Tribune Media Services. He speaks at schools, conferences, libraries, and literary events throughout the U.S. and overseas, and has read his poems at The Library of Congress, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the American Library in Paris, the American School in Paris, and the International Schools of South America. For more information, visit his website at FatherGoose.com FatherGoose.com
Dinner at Versailles
with family and friends
November 2023
with Chip and Daisy
Homewood, Alabama
October 2023
(photo by Debra Ghigna)
Southern Festival of Books
Nashville, Tennessee
October 2023
(photo by Debra Ghigna)
with Debra Ghigna
at our son's Pop-Up Art Show
West Homewood Market
Homewood, Alabama
June 2023
(photo by Chip Ghigna)
Birmingham, Alabama
May 13, 2023
(photo by Debra Ghigna) 
Homewood, Alabama
April 27, 2023
(photo by Debra Ghigna) 
at the Alabama Booksmith
Homewood, Alabama
April 27, 2023
(photo by Debra Ghigna) 
Homewood, Alabama
April 28, 2023
(photo by Debra Ghigna) 
Speaking to 500 eager teachers, parents, and kids at the
Southern Kentucky Festival of Books
Bowling Green, Kentucky
March 24, 2023
(photo by Debra Ghigna)
Signing books and talking with kids at the
Southern Kentucky Festival of Books
Bowling Green, Kentucky
March 25, 2023
(photo by Debra Ghigna) 
Monroeville, Alabama
March 3-4, 2023
Book signing table with Joy Harjo
Monroeville Literary Festival
Monroeville, Alabama
March 4, 2023
with Debra Ghigna
Monroeville Academy
Monroeville, Alabama
March 2, 2023
Homewood, Alabama
Jan. 27, 2023
(photo by Maureen Kelley) 
Hall-Kent Elementary School
Homewood, Alabama
Jan. 27, 2023
(photo by Maureen Kelley) 
With Chip, Debra, Julie and Sparky
Santa Cruz, CaliforniaNov 23, 2022
(photo by Scott Pierce)
Santa Cruz, California
Nov 23, 2022
(photo by Scott Pierce) 
With Debra and Chip
Thanksgving Day
at the home of Keela and Dave Robison
Los Gatos, California
Nov 24, 2022
(photo by Scott Pierce) 
With Debra Ghigna on the Santa Cruz Wharf
Santa Cruz, California
Booksigning
Reading at home
with R.L. Stein
Alabama 5-City Book Tour
with Anna from the movie Frozen
Southern Kentucky Book Fest
At the Scholastic Writing Awards Ceremony in New York City
Nov 25, 2022
(photo by Chip Ghigna) 
Celebrating one million books published by Random House
Springville Road Library
Birmingham, Alabama
Oct 18, 2022
(photos by Chip Ghigna)
Little Professor Bookshop
Homewood, Alabama
May 2022
(photo by Elise Ferrer)
Homewood, Alabama
December 2020
(photo by Debra Ghigna)
Chip Ghigna and Charles Ghigna
At home in the backyard
Homewood, Alabama
April 2020
(photo by Erin Nelson)
with Mayor Scott McBrayer
Homewood Public Library
Homewood, Alabama
Dec. 14, 2019
(photo by Debra Ghigna)
with Homewood Librarians
Mary Eller, Deborah Fout, and Laura Tucker
at the Jefferson County Public Library Association
Champions Banquet
Hoover Met Center
Hoover, Alabama
Dec. 3, 2019
with Librarians from the Children's Department
of the Homewood Public Library
Cristina Castor, Mary Eller, Laura Tucker, Aaliyah
at the Jefferson County Public Library Association
Champions Banquet
Hoover Met Center
Hoover, Alabama
Dec. 3, 2019
Trussville Public Library
Trussville, Alabama
Oct. 6, 2019
(photo by Chip Ghigna)
Granddaughter Charlotte Rose Ghigna
and her daddy Chip Ghigna
visiting the Treehouse
Homewood, Alabama
2019
Reading in the Treehouse
Homewood, Alabama
July 16, 2019
(photo by Chip Ghigna)
The University of Alabama
Gorgas Library
Tuscaloosa, Alabama
May 11, 2019
(photo by Debra Ghigna)
Auburn University
Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art
Auburn, Alabama
Apr. 13, 2019
Books-A-Million
Brookwood Village
Homewood, Alabama
Mar. 23, 2019
Meadow View Elementary School
School Visit
Alabaster, Alabama
Mar. 7, 2019
Homewood Public Library
Booksigning
Homewood, Alabama
Jan. 2, 2019
Alabama Literacy Association Conference
Birmingham, Alabama
Nov. 1, 2019
School Visit
Birmingham, Alabama
2019
National Book Festival
Washington, DC
Sept. 1, 2018
(photo by Debra Ghigna)
with Whitman editor Mary Burleson and publisher Dawn Burbank
Alabama Chapter of the American Pediatrics Meeting
Florence, Alabama
August 28, 2018
with editors
National Geographic Books for Children
American Library Association Convention
New Orleans, Louisiana
June 25, 2018
National Science Teachers Association Conference
Atlanta, Georgia
March 17, 2018
(photo by Debra Ghigna)
with Chip Ghigna
Bryant Park
New York City
Dec. 17, 2017
(photo by Debra Ghigna)
with Debra Ghigna
Museum of Modern Art
New York City
Dec. 15, 2017
(photo by Chip Ghigna)
with Chip Ghigna
The Roosevelt Hotel
New York City
Dec. 14, 2017
(photo by Debra Ghigna)
with Debra Ghigna
The Roosevelt Hotel
New York City
Dec. 13-18, 2017
(photo by Chip Ghigna)
Out the window of the Treehouse
Homewood, Alabama
Dec. 8, 2017
(photo by Debra Ghigna)
Inside the Treehouse
Homewood, Alabama
2017
(photo by Debra Ghigna)
with Debra Ghigna and Rebecca Kai Dotlich
Homewood, Alabama
2017
with granddaughter, Charlotte Rose Ghigna
Homewood, Alabama
2017
(photo by Debra Ghigna)
Southern Kentucky Book Fest
Bowling Green, Kentucky
2017
(photo by Debra Ghigna)
"Father Goose meets Goosebumps"
Southern Kentucky Book Fest
Bowling Green, Kentucky
2017
(photo by Debra Ghigna)
Helena Intermediate School
Helena, Alabama
2017
with Debra Ghigna
Honfleur, France
2016
(photo by Chip Ghigna) 
Books-A-Million Bookstore
Animal Planet Book
Winner of National Science Teachers Association Award
Birmingham, AL
2016
(photo by Debra Ghigna) 
The Walker School
Marietta, Georgia
2016
(photo by Debra Ghigna)
Sixes Elementary School
Canton, Georgia
2016
with Charlottle Rose Ghigna
FoxTale Book Shoppe
Woodstock, Georgia
2016
(photo by Debra Ghigna)
with Chip Ghigna
Barons Baseball Game
Regions Field
Birmingham, Alabama
2016
Mount Vernon, WA
2016
with Jake Reiss, Chip Ghigna, Debra Ghigna
Alabama Booksmith
Homewood, Alabama
December 8, 2016
Tea Time in the Treehouse
Homewood, Alabama
2015
with Anna from the movie Frozen
Huntsville, Alabama
2015
Books-A-Million
Brookwood Village
Homewood, Alabama
2015
(photo by Debra Ghigna)
Barnes & Noble Bookstore 
with Charlotte Rose Ghigna
Birmingham, Alabama
2015
(photo by Debra Ghigna)
Homewood Public Library
Homewood, Alabama
2015
(photo by Chip Ghigna)
with Charlotte Rose Ghigna
Chip Ghigna Art Show
The Ellenburg Art Gallery - Homewood Library
Homewood, Alabama
2015
(photo by Chip Ghigna)
St Tropez, France
2015
(photo by Chip Ghigna)
with Debra Ghigna in Montmartre
Paris, France
2015
(photo by Chip Ghigna)
with Debra Ghigna, beach party
St Tropez, France
2015
(photo by Chip Ghigna)
with Debra Ghigna (wife) and Chip Ghigna (son)
St Tropez, France
2015
(photo by Diana Levaton)
with daughter, Julie Pierce
at the top of the Statue of Vulcan
Birmingham, Alabama
2014
(photo by Scott Pierce)
with Debra celebrating the Elo Pillow
containing thirty-two of our audio stories
Homewood, Alabama
2014
(photo by Chip Ghigna)
with Debra Ghigna and Librarian Ashley Fowlkes
Southern Kentucky Book Fest
Bowling Green, Kentucky
2014
Bowling Green, Kentucky
2014 (photo by Debra Ghigna)
Charlotte Rose Ghigna serenades Grandpa Goose on the piano
Homewood, Alabama
2014
(photo by Debra Ghigna)
with illustrator Lori Nichols
Homewood Public Library
Homewood, Alabama
2014
Reading to children on a float
Homewood Christmas Parade
Homewood, Alabama
2013
(photo by Chip Ghigna)
with Deborah Fout, Homewood Library Director
Christmas Parade
Homewood, Alabama
2013
(photo by Chip Ghigna)
with grandson, Christopher Pierce
Seattle, Washington
2013
(photo by Scott Pierce)
Texas Library Association
Dallas, Texas
2013
with Rebecca Davis, Charles Waters, Amy VanDerwater, Rebecca Kai Dotlich
Texas Library Association
Dallas, Texas
2013
with Debra Ghigna
Destin Beach, Florida
2013
(photo by Chip Ghigna)
with Charlotte Rose Ghigna
Birmingham Zoo
Birmingham, Alabama
2012
(photo by Chip Ghigna)
with Charlotte Rose Ghigna in the Treehouse
Homewood, Alabama
2012
(photo by Debra Ghigna)
Homewood Public Library
Homewood, Alabama
2012
(photo by Brigid Galloway)
with granddaughter, Charlotte Rose Ghigna
Toys R Us
Birmingham, Alabama
2011
(photo by Debra Ghigna)
Trussville Public Library
Trussville, Alabama
2010
with wife Debra Ghigna, son Chip Ghigna, and daughter Julie Pierce
Seattle, Washington
2009
(photo by Scott Pierce)
with Debra
Homewood, Alabama
2008
(photo by Beverly Taylor)
Homewood Public Library
Homewood, Alabama
2007
with Honey in the Treehouse
Homewood, Alabama
2006
(photo by Beau Gustafson)
with Debra Ghigna
Jefferson County Board of Education
Birmingham, Alabama
2005
Jonathan Benton Bookstore
Mountain Brook, Alabama
2003
(photo by Debra Ghigna)
with Honey and children
in the front yard of our home
Homewood, Alabama
2003
(photo by Beau Gustafson)
with Debra Ghigna, Michel Levaton and Diana Levaton
at the Levatons' home near
Giverny, France
2002
with Honey
Homewood, Alabama
2001
with Rick Bragg and Debra Ghigna
Birmingham Public Library
Birmingham, Alabama
2000
with Chip Ghigna, Julie Pierce, and Debra Ghigna
San Francisco, California
1999
(photo by Scott Pierce)
Homewood, Alabama
1999
(photo by Debra Ghigna)
Cooper Memorial Library
Opelika, Alabama
1998
(photo by Katie Lamar Smith)
Charles Ghigna, Jon Agee, Patricia Gauch, and Eric Carle
The de Grummand Children's Literature Collection
University of Southern Mississippi
Hattiesburg, Mississippi
1997
Vinemont Elementary
Cullman, Alabama
1996
Homewood Park
Homewood, Alabama
1995
Booksigning
Books-A-Million / Eastwood Mall
Birmingham, Alabama
1994
School Visit
Birmingham, Alabama
1994
with Mark Strand
University of Utah
Salt Lake City, Utah1993
Books of Wonder
First Booksigning
of four new titles from Disney/Hyperion
New York, New York
1993
with Chip and Debra
Homewood, Alabama
1992
(photo by Jerry Ayres)
with son, Chip Ghigna
Backyard, Homewood, Alabama
1992
(photo by Debra Ghigna)
with two of my creative writing students, Heather Brinson and Brad Armstrong.
Brad won 1st Place for Poetry and Heather won 1st Place for
Fiction.
This was the first time two student
winners came from the same state (Alabama),
same school (Alabama School
of Fine Arts), and the same class!
Previous student winners include Sylvia Path,
Truman Capote,
John Updike, Stephen King, and Amanda Gorman.
Homewood, Alabama
wife, Debra, mother, Patricia, daughter, Julie, and grandmother, Laura
Homewood Central Park
Still waiting for the call from MLB 😎
Waldorf Astoria
New York, New York
1991
Creative Writing Lab
Alabama School of Fine Arts
Birmingham, Alabama
1991
Three Generations of Charles Vincent Ghigna
My father, my son, and me
Franklin, North Carolina
1988
(photo by Debra Ghigna)
Homewood, Alabama
1987
(photo by Debra Ghigna)
with Carolyn Scott, Fiction Instructor
Teachers Lounge
Alabama School of Fine Arts
Birmingham, Alabama
1986
John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Six-week summer residency
Washington, DC
1984
(photo by Debra Ghigna)
Alabama School of Fine Arts
Birmingham, Alabama
1984
(photo by Debra Ghigna)
with Debra Ghigna
Seattle, Washington
This photo was taken right after my interview with NASA Space Center
for the Poet in Space Project on the Space Shuttle Challenger.
President Reagan later changed the mission to the Teacher in Space Project.
The Challenger broke apart 73 seconds into its flight,
killing all seven crew members, including Christa McAuliffe,
the teacher chosen for this mission.
1984
with James Dickey
Birmingham Art Museum
Birmingham, Alabama
1983
(photo by John Northrop)
with James Dickey
Alabama School of Fine Arts
Birmingham, Alabama
1983
(photo by John Northrop)
with Debra
Baylor School
Chattanooga, Tennessee
1983
(photo by Finn Bille)
City Lights Bookstore
San Francisco, California
1983
(photo by Debra Ghigna)
1983
(photo by Debra Ghigna)
Grandfather's Funeral
New York City
1982
with James Baldwin
Alabama School of Fine Arts
Birmingham, Alabama
1982
(photo by John Northrop)
Baylor School for Boys
Chattanooga, Tennessee
1982
Alabama School of Fine Arts
Birmingham, Alabama
1982
Columbiana, Alabama
1981
Linn Park
Birmingham, Alabama
1980
(photo by Dale Short)
with wife, Debra, daughter, Julie and Mom & Dad
Visiting Grandparents
New York, New York
1980
New York, New York
1980
with poet Robert Hayden
Montgomery, Alabama
1979
Robert Hayden and Charles Ghigna
Library of Congress
Washington, DC
1978
Alabama State Poetry Society
Arlington Home
Birmingham, Alabama
1978
National Writers Conference
Denver, Colorado
1978
Homewood, Alabama
1977
(photo by Debra Ghigna)
with Debra Ghigna
London, England
1977
(photo by Chris Lawson)
with Debra Ghigna
Homewood, Alabama
1977
(photo by Sandra Simpson)
Huntsville, Alabama
1976
(photo by Tim Weber)
Northeast Mississippi Jr. College
Booneville, Mississippi
1976
Homewood, Alabama
1975
(photo by Debra Ghigna)
Birmingham, Alabama
1974
(photo by Beck Wilson)
Homewood, AL
1974
Celebrating the publication of the poem
"The Alabama Wiregrassers" in Harper's Magazine
and the first year as Poetry Editor of English Journal
for the National Council of Teachers of English
Florida State University
Tallahassee, Florida
1974
with daughter, Julie
Fort Myers, Florida
1972
Age 18
Leaving for College
Saying goodbye to Mom and Dad
Fort Myers, Florida
1965
Age 9, 4th Grade
Tice Elementary
Fort Myers, Florida
1955
with Mother, Age 5
Fort Myers, Florida
1950
Bayside, New York
1948
