In September, I’ll be teaching a course through WOW! Women On Writing about writing children’s short stories, articles, and fillers. I am re-posting an interview below with Angela, WOW!’s executive editor, that appeared on their blog, The Muffin, at the beginning of this year. I hope that it helps any of you who have thought [...]

*Picture book, humorous fantasy (tall tale), for preschoolers through second graders *A rancher and his wife are the main characters. *Rating: Meanwhile Back at the Ranch is one of my favorite books to share with children. (It’s by the same author as The Day Jimmy’s Boa Ate the Wash. Short, short summary: Rancher Hicks is [...]

I teach a class through WOW! Women On Writing about social networking for writers–but it could actually be for any small business owner or blogger. As I said last Wednesday, I know many of you, who read my blog to get ideas for the classroom, library, and home school, are also writers and bloggers. Here’s [...]

Guest post by Irene Roth! Finding Lincoln By: Ann Malaspina Illustrated by: Colin Bootman (Paintings by Coretta Scott King Honor artist) Albert Whitman and Company, 2009. This book is based on a true story. It is about an African-American boy who wants to get a book out of the main library in Alabama about young [...]

I know that many of you are not only parents, teachers, and librarians, but you are also writers in all stages of your career. If you are looking to increase your freelance income or work as a children’s writer, then I want to tell you about my friend Suzanne Lieurance. I met Suzanne about eight [...]

Nasreen’s Secret School: A True Story from Afghanistan by Jeanette Winter is one of those special books that we should all share with children at home and in our classrooms. It is the true story of a girl in Afghanistan, Nasreen, who did not speak to anybody after the Taliban took over, and she lived [...]

*Picture book for preschoolers through second graders, fantasy, farm life *A special cow as the main character *Rating: The Cow That Laid an Egg is a cute and clever picture book! I think kids will love it. Short, short summary: Marjorie was in the dumps–she didn’t think she was special. The chickens asked what was [...]

photo by maureen lunn www.flickr.com I am super excited to give away three more books from Rubicon Publishing today. This is an educational publishing company that is coming out with some fantastic and exciting books to use in the classroom. Please check them out here if you like what you see. You can also check [...]

Why War is Never a Good Idea by Alice Walker and illustrated by Stefano Vitale is a poem put to life in a picture book with beautiful, rich illustrations. This powerful text shows children the affects of war and the innocent bystanders from frogs to children to mothers to villagers who are the victims of [...]

What some children go through in our world is unbelievable, scary, tragic. It is hard for some of us, especially in the United States and Canada, to imagine how life can be like this–how people can kill one another over religion and race, how people can be so greedy to kill for land or cash [...]