Writing Lesson Mini-Unit, using a Mentor Text: Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch, by Eileen Spinelli, illus. by Paul Yalowitz

February is upon us, and with its arrival comes Valentine's Day frivolity, with lots of hearts, and candy, and love stories...you know the drill. But sometimes, people get a little lost amongst all that Valentine hoopla, and feel very lonely indeed. And sometimes, a book comes along that reminds us that there is good in this world, and plenty of people who care about us, even when we think we are all alone. Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch, by Eileen Spinelli, with pictures by Paul Yalowitz, is one of those books. And though it's a story that can be read any time at all, it's especially fitting to read in February.

Storyline Online has a video read-aloud of Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch, and it is the reason I found and fell in love with this book, read by one of my favorite actors, Mr. Hector Elizondo. In fact, this story stuck with me so completely that, when I was a second grade teacher, I wrote a short set of writing lesson plans for my class, using this book as a mentor text. They're meant to be taught right around Valentine's Day, so the students can share their finished writing pieces with someone they care about very much, to celebrate the day. 

Some technical notes:

• The plans are aligned with Pennsylvania Common Core standards, but you can easily adapt to the standards in use in your state.
• The plans were written for and taught in second grade. However, they can be easily adapted for other grades - just select your core standards and tweak the plans accordingly to fit.
• The plans are written as two lessons, but in practice they took my second graders 3 days to complete, so they can easily be expanded if needed.
• The plans use the book below as an anchor text

Title: Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch

Story by: Eileen Spinelli

Pictures by: Paul Yalowitz

Pages: 32

Age range: 3-8 years

Publisher and Date: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers (January 1, 1996)

Edition: 1st 

Language: English

Published In: United States

Price: $17.09

ISBN-10: 0689718721

ISBN-13: 978-0689718724

And finally, the plans:

• Clicking the link below will take you to the shared Google Doc, and you can download the plans and accompanying handouts from there.
• Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch - Writing Mini-Unit

Thank you for visiting, and happy reading and writing :)

Writing Unit: How to Build a Snowman, with Stranger in the Woods, by Carl R. Sams II and Jean Stoick

If you're a teacher, and you live somewhere in the general vicinity of the northeast United States, you may be reading this from underneath a giant pile of blankets, cocoa in hand, enjoying at least one unexpected day off from school.

And if you're reading this, then you may be browsing for what to do when school is back in session, because your kiddos' focus will most likely still be on the gigantic piles of snow outside, and not on whatever you originally had planned.

Second graders who are still marveling at the biggest snowstorm of their little lifetimes might have a good time writing about snow: Specifically, writing about how to build a snowman. So, here is a set of plans you might like to use, focusing on temporal words and how-to writing.


Some technical notes: 

• I wrote these plans based on Sailing Through First Grade's How to Build a Snowman: Instructional Writing Mini-Pack. Clicking on the link in the previous sentence will take you to the Teachers Pay Teachers store page, where you can download the packet for free!
• These plans use only pages 1-5 and 17-18 of the packet, but feel free to adjust and tweak as you like.
• The plans are aligned with Pennsylvania Common Core standards, but you can easily adapt to the standards in use in your state.
• The plans are for second grade. However, they can be easily adapted for first and third grade - just adjust your core standards and tweak the plans accordingly to fit.
• The plans use the book below as an anchor text. (But if you don't have it and are pressed for time, any book about snowmen, or ideally, building a snowman, should do):

• Title: Stranger in the Woods: A Photographic Fantasy (Nature)
  
  Author and photographer: Carl R. Sams II, Jean Stoick
  Pages: 48
  Reading Level: Ages 5 and up
  Publisher and Date: Carl R. Sams Photography, November 1999
  Edition: 1st 
  Language: English
  Published In: United States
  Price: $16.52
  ISBN-10: 0967174805
  ISBN-13: 978-0967174808

And finally, the plans:

• Clicking the link below will take you to the shared Google Doc, and you can download it from there.
• Second Grade Writing Unit (5 Days) - How to Build a Snowman, by Kim Wheedleton

Thank you for visiting, and happy reading and writing :)

Author Spotlight: Barbara Wersba

Barbara Wersba is the only child of a Russian-Jewish father and a Kentucky Baptist mother. Growing up, she wanted to be a musician, or a dancer, or a poet, thinking that becoming any of these would take her out of what she believed to be a sad life.
 
"I grew up in almost total solitude," she once said. "I thought I was lonely when I was simply a loner--and spent much of my childhood daydreaming, writing poems, and creating dramas for my dolls."


When she was 11 years old, in answer to a family friend's inquiry, she impulsively declared her intent to be an actress one day. Soon after, Ms Wersba landed a part in a local play. Though she came to decide she didn't actually like acting, she stuck with it because it gave her purpose, and helped her not to feel alone.

She continued as an actress through college and then professionally, until she fell ill in 1960 and was forced into a lengthy recovery. On the advice of a friend, she turned to writing to pass the time. The result was her first book for children, The Boy Who Loved the Sea, which was published in 1961. From then on, she continued as a writer.

Her breakthrough novel came in 1968, with the publication of The Dream Watcher. She went on to adapt this novel into a script when her childhood acting idol, Eva Le Gallienne, had read Ms Wersba's book and wished to play the role of the elderly woman from the story. The play opened at the White Barn Theatre in Connecticut in 1975.

Two of her most popular novels are Tunes for a Small Harmonica: A Novel (1976) - which was a National Book Award nominee, and The Carnival of My Mind (1982).

Ms Wersba has written more than two dozen novels for both children and teens/young adults. She has also reviewed children's literature for the New York Times, written play and television scripts, and taught writing. In 1994, she founded her own small publishing company, The Bookman Press.

Born in Chicago on August 19, 1932, Barbara Wersba later moved with her family to California. After her parents' divorce, she moved with her mother to New York City. She now lives in Sag Harbor, New York.


Sources:
Barbara Wersba - Goodreads
Barbara Wersba Biography - Bookrags
Barbara Wersba Biography - Bookrags 
Dreaming of Broadway - Collecting Children's Books
Barbara Wersba - Answers.com
Barbara Wersba - Alibris
The Dream Watcher - Amazon.com

Author Spotlight: Hilary McKay

Hilary McKay studied Botany and Zoology at St Andrews University in Scotland. After graduation, she worked as a biochemist. And she liked the work. But, she badly wanted to write a children's book. And so, after the birth of her two children, Ms McKay became a full-time mom...and a writer.

But Hilary McKay didn't stop at writing just one book. To date, she has written over 50 series and stand-alone books for children and young people, via various publishers. She has won several awards for her work, including:

• the 1992 Guardian Children's Fiction Prize, for her first novel, The Exiles
• the 1994 Nestlé Smarties Book Prize (Gold Award), for The Exiles at Home
• the 2002 Whitbread Children's Book of the Year Award for Saffy's Angel 

Born June 12, 1959, in Boston, Lincolnshire, England, Ms McKay grew up in a household of readers. She was the eldest of four girls, a reader from a very young age, and a frequent library visitor. Now, she lives in the small village of Derbyshire, England with her family. She loves "walking, reading, and having friends over to visit."


Sources:
Lulu and the Dog from the Sea book jacket flap
Hilary McKay official site: Biography page
Hilary McKay - Wikipedia page
Writers: Hilary McKay, British Council Literature
Hilary McKay biography - BookBrowse.com
Birthday Bios: Hilary McKay - Children's Literature network
Mrs. Hilary McKay - Debrett's
Hilary McKay - Children's Author - LoveReading4Kids


 

Illustrator Spotlight: Priscilla Lamont

Priscilla Lamont graduated from Canterbury College of Art with a degree in Graphic Design. From there, she worked a number of years as a book designer. After that, she began work as a freelance artist - work that she continues to this day. In addition to her illustration work, Ms Lamont also does primary school visits, and creates watercolor portraits of both adults and children.

Ms Lamont has illustrated more than 40 books for children, for many authors. She illustrates her own stories sometimes, too.

Some awards she has earned for her work include:

• nominated for the Kurt Maschler Award, for The Troublesome Pig
• nominated for the Smarties Prize, for See Mouse Run
• won Parents Play and Learn Award (Silver), for DK Playtime Rhymes
• won Scottish Arts Council Children's Book Award for Emerging Readers, for The Queen's Birthday Hat

Priscilla Lamont has lived in London, and in Suffolk. Now, she lives in Kent with husband David Hayward - who is also an artist. Ms Lamont likes sailing, scuba diving, salsa dancing and hiking.


Sources:
Priscilla Lamont: About the artist - official site
Priscilla Lamont - Shannon Associates LLC
Priscilla Lamont - Tallbean

Author Spotlight: Alex Milway

Children's author and illustrator Alex Milway was born in 1978, in Hereford, England. After entering art college in Shrewsbury at the age of 16, and then continuing to Cheltenham art college, he earned a degree in fine art.

Though he now writes and illustrates children's books full time, Mr. Milway has previously tried his hand at a few other vocations. He worked for several years in magazine publishing, once had a summer factory job building air conditioning units for Range Rovers, and worked for a time in a WHSmith.

His books to date include the Mousehunter trilogy, and the Mythical 9th Division series.

In addition to creating children's books, Alex Milway runs school events and workshops. He lives in London, England, with his wife and family and Milo the cat.

Sources:
Alex Milway official site
Alex Milway author page - Faber and Faber official site
Alex Milway - Laura Cecil (literary agent) client page
Interview with an Author: Alex Milway - tall tales & short stories blog

 

Author Spotlight: Laura Amy Schlitz

Laura Amy Schlitz is a true creative soul. She loves to make things (bread, marionettes, quilts, watercolors, and origami animals), and write things (books, plays and stories). She has been by turns and/or simultaneously: a playwright, a storyteller, a costumer, an actress, a children's author, and a children's librarian.

Born January 1, 1956, in Baltimore, Maryland, Ms Schlitz graduated from Goucher College with a B.A. in aesthetics in 1977. She spent three years in the 1980s as an actress touring with the Baltimore-based Children's Theater Association. She has been since 1991 - and continues to be - a children's librarian at Park School in Baltimore, MD. And all the while, she writes.

Ms Schlitz has so far written six books for children, all published by
Candlewick Press. In 2008, she won the Newbery Medal for Good Masters, Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village, illustrated by Robert Byrd (2007). Her most recent work is Splendors and Glooms (2012). Her other titles include: Bearskinner: a tale of the Brothers Grimm (2007); Hero Schliemann: the dreamer who dug for Troy (2006); Night Fairy (2010); and A Drowned Maiden's Hair: A Melodrama (2006).

In addition to her children's books, Ms Schlitz has written children's plays, which have been produced by professional theaters around the USA.

Ms Schlitz, whose favorite author is Charles Dickens, lives in Maryland.

Sources:
Bios: Laura Amy Schlitz - Candlewick Press
Laura Amy Schlitz - freshfiction.com
Laura Amy Schlitz - BTSB Bookstore
Newbery Winner Laura Amy Schlitz publishes her magnum opus - Baltimore Sun article
Q&A with Laura Amy Schlitz - PW Weekly

So I signed up for WRiTE CLUB 2012...

…and you can too. To sign up, go to DL Hammons' website and enter your name and website/blog address in the Magical Linky Tool at the end of the WRiTE CLUB 2012 post. Then you submit your (up to) 500 word sample (under an alias of your choosing) to the email address listed in the post, and that's it! 

Three times a week, two samples are posted for head-to-head voting by entrants of WRiTE CLUB. Winners move on to new rounds, until eventually an overall winner is crowned. A new twist for this year's contest is, the winner of the final round will be chosen by a panel of publishing industry professionals. (You can see who they are by visiting the website.)

Thanks to Joanne Fritz, over at My Brain on Books, and Elle Strauss (whom I follow on Twitter), for calling it to my attention. If it wasn't for these ladies posting about WRiTe CLUB, I might never have found it and tried it.

There's still time to join - who else wants to try?

Author Spotlight: Janet Lee Carey

Janet Lee Carey's desire to become a writer grew from a love of books she had acquired from the time she was small:

"I always loved reading. After school, I'd rush home and settle myself in the high branches of a tree to read all about Narnia or Middle-earth. Every book was a secret door and I wanted in."

She began writing poetry in eighth grade. That and her journal writing ultimately led her to write novels beginning in her late 20's. Though she currently writes fantasy fiction for children and adults, she leaves herself open to the stories that reveal themselves to her - fantasy, or otherwise.

Ms Carey often fields questions about writing via letters, during presentations, or in emails, and she answers many of these on the FAQ page of her official website. On the subject of where to get story ideas, she offers several thoughts, including this one:

"I think most of the stories wait down inside a person, like a secret storyteller. Things that happen in the outside world awaken the storyteller, and suddenly she begins to speak. So it's not so much a matter of making the stories up, as learning how to sit very still, and listen."

In her career, Janet Lee Carey has taught at Lake Washington Technical College, and leads professional writing seminars and workshops for both children and adults. She has written eight novels for kids and teens - each of which is linked to a charitable organization, "empowering readers," she says, "to make a difference in the world." 

She has won various awards for her novels, including: the Mark Twain Award in 2005 for Wenny Has Wings (published in 2002), an ALA Best Books for Young Adults award for Dragon's Keep (published in 2007), and a Teens Read Too Gold Star Award for Excellence for The Dragon of Noor (published in 2012).

Born in New York on January 11, 1954, and raised in Mill Valley, California, Ms Carey now lives near Seattle, Washington. She is married, with 3 sons. When not writing, she enjoys hiking, swimming, canoeing, reading, yoga, spending time with family, and taking long walks. 

Sources:
Janet Lee Carey official site - About the Author
Janet Lee Carey - Wikipedia
Seattle Author: An Imagination Gone Wild - Seattle Wrote
Author Interview: Janet Lee Carey - The Magic Attic
Author Interview: Janet Lee Carey on Dragon's Keep - Cynsations
Author Janet Lee Carey - Watch. Connect. Read. 

Author Spotlight: Gregory Mone

Before he started writing for kids, Gregory Mone wrote for adults. And before that, he worked as a paralegal in Ireland. And before that, he did a bit of banking work. And before all of that, he was history major at Harvard University, graduating in 1998.

Now, Gregory Mone is a novelist for both kids and adults, a magazine writer, a science journalist, and a speaker. He has written two novels for adults, as well as many magazine articles on a wide variety of topics, including: artificial intelligence, robots, physics, biology, Irish mythology, and cartoons.

His first novel for kids, Fish, was published by Scholastic Press in 2010. His second, Dangerous Waters: An Adventure on the Titanic, is scheduled for release in March, 2012, from Roaring Brook.

Born on Long Island, New York, into "an Irish-American family of swimmers and storytellers," Gregory Mone now lives in Massachusetts with his wife, two daughters, and one son.

Sources:
Gregory Mone blog: About page
Fish: About the Author - Official site for the book, Fish, by Gregory Mone
In Print: Fish by Greg Mone is a great catch, by CK Wolfson

Author Spotlight: Deborah Wiles

Sometimes, a writer's path to publication takes many twists and turns. Deborah Wiles has held a variety of jobs. Some of those jobs sound very writerly, like freelance writer, and journalist. Some sound a little writerly, but in a different way, like her days as an oral history gatherer, and a teacher. Some don't sound very writerly at all, but could give an observant person a ton of ideas for stories or characters, like she may have collected during her school bus driver days, or her time as a burger queen. She was even an underwear salesperson once. And, now, in the most recent part of her winding path, Deborah Wiles has become an award winning children's author.

Her first title came out in 2001: the picture book Freedom Summer. She followed that with the middle grade novel, Love, Ruby Lavender, which came out the same year. Ms. Wiles has gone on to publish a total of 6 books so far: two picture books, and four novels.

Mrs. Wiles also took time for education. She learned more about writing as she worked toward her MFA in Writing from Vermont College, which she earned in 2003. She also took what she learned and shared it with others: She taught the course Writing Techniques for Teachers at Towson University, and she has taught MFA programs at Vermont College, and at Lesley University.

She says of writing:

"Writing a story is like sending a slender thread out into the world, looking for connection. Are you out there? Who are you? Where are you? I don't know who will catch on to that thread, but I have learned to trust that someone will, even if I never know who (and mostly I don't)."

Deborah (Edwards) Wiles was born on May 7, 1953, in Mobile, Alabama. She is the eldest of three children born to her parents, Marie and T.P. Her dad was in the Air Force, so the family moved a lot, but spent their summers where her dad grew up, in Loudin, Mississippi.

Ms Wiles has four grown children. She now lives in Atlanta, Georgia, "in a small brick house painted purple, chartreuse and red," with her husband, jazz musician Jim Pearce. When not writing, she spends her time avoiding Atlanta traffic, climbing Stone Mountain, and visiting friends.

Sources:
Deborah Wiles official site
Deborah Wiles (Wikipedia)
Team Countdown - An Interview with Deborah Wiles and David Levithan
Deborah Wiles Author Study (Scholastic)
Interview with Deborah Wiles, author of The Aurora County All-Stars

Author Spotlight: Patricia MacLachlan

Photo Credit: John MacLachlan 

Patricia MacLachlan's parents were teachers who encouraged her to read when she was a child. Her mother told her "read a book and find out who you are." And read, she did. A lot. She also had a vivid and active imagination. But, she did not write stories then. "I was afraid," she says, "of putting my own feelings and thoughts on a page for everyone to read."

It wasn't until she was 35 years old that she began writing - something she realized she'd always wanted to do. Yet even then, writing still felt scary for her.  She began with a picture book: The Sick Day (1979). Then she wrote her first novel: Arthur, For the Very First Time (1980). And she continued to write. Since then, she has written more than 20 novels and picture books for children, some of them co-written with her daughter Emily. She has also written a series of journal articles on adoption and foster mothers, teleplays of some of her books, and short fiction pieces in anthologies. She says of her work, 

"Each time I write a new piece, whether a novel, a picture book, a speech or anything really, it has so much to do with what I’m going through personally or a problem I’m trying to work out."

After graduating from the University of Connecticut in 1962, Mrs. MacLachlan taught English for 16 years. She has also been a social worker, a lecturer, and a creative writing workshop teacher for both children and adults. She was a board member of the Children's Aid Family Service Agency from 1970-1980, and currently serves on the board of the National Children's Book and Literary Alliance. She has been a visiting lecturer at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts since 1986.

Born March 3, 1938, in Cheyenne, Wyoming, Patricia (Pritzkau) MacLachlan was raised in Minnesota. She is an only child. She married John MacLachlan in 1962, and they have three grown children. She now lives in Williamsburg, Massachusetts with her husband, and two border terriers - Charlie and Emmett.

Sources:
Patricia MacLachlan - Simon & Schuster
Authors and Illustrators - Patricia MacLachlan - HarperCollins Children's
Series Books: Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan - Author Information, KidsReads.com
Patricia MacLachlan (1938-) Biography - Personal, Address, Career, Honors Awards, Writings, Adaptations, Sidelights
Q&A With Patricia MacLachlan, by Ingrid Roper, for Publisher's Weekly
About Patricia MacLachlan - Scholastic.com

Author Spotlight: Sally M. Keehn

Photo Credit: Sally M. Keehn official site*

Sally M. Keehn grew up the only girl among three "loud and boisterous" brothers, one of whom is her twin. Due to her father's Naval officer status, by the time she was eleven years old, Mrs. Keehn had lived in England, California, Rhode Island, Virginia and Maryland. When her father retired from the service, the family moved to her grandfather's farm near Annapolis, MD.

She earned her B.A. in English from Hood College in 1969, then went to work for the American Red Cross in their S.R.A.O. program (Supplemental Recreational Activities Overseas) in South Korea, working with the American troops stationed there, as well as doing volunteer work in the Korean community.

Following this, Mrs. Keehn made the decision to become a Young Adult Librarian, and prepared by attending Drexel School Of Library Science from 1971-72. It was during this time that she met David Keehn, whom she married in 1972. She then served as Young Adult Librarian (1972-75) and part-time reference librarian (1975-79) in Severna Park, Maryland. 

In 1979, her husband's work as an attorney brought them to Pennsylvania, where she found work as a part-time and volunteer reference librarian at Parkland Community Library (1980-91). She also was a part-time tour guide for the Lehigh County Historical Society (1985-86).

Mrs. Keehn began her freelance writing career in 1981. By 1982, her first book, Hexcursions: Daytripping in and Around Pennsylvania's Dutch Country (co-written with her husband) was published. It was while researching for Hexcursions that she came across part of a story that inspired her first book for young people: I Am Regina (1991). From there, she has gone on to publish five other titles for young readers, the most recent being Magpie Gabbard and the Quest for the Buried Moon (2007). Mrs. Keehn says that her novels are often "...inspired by a historical event or story. However, as the main character develops, the story changes and the plot evolves."

Born on August 11, 1947, in London, England (where her father was stationed at the time), Sally M. Keehn now lives in Allentown, Pennsylvania with her husband and two daughters.

Sources:
More About Sally - author official site*
More About Sally: The Work - author official site*
Follow-Up Interview with Author Sally Keehn, by Debbi Michiko Florence
Keehn, Sally M. (Miller) - bio prepared by Erin Russell, Fall 2005
Sally M. Keehn - Answers.com
Sally M. Keehn - Scholastic.com
About Sally M. Keehn - Penguingroup.com 

*As of September 1, 2012, Ms Keehn's website appears to be offline or is otherwise unavailable, so these starred links no longer work. If this changes, I'll update here again.

Author Spotlight: Author Gregory Maguire, Illustrator Elaine Clayton

Gregory Maguire: Author

Gregory Maguire grew up with a great affinity for books, most notably fairy tales and fantasy fiction. Add to that his experiences throughout childhood living with his journalist father and poet stepmother, and it makes perfect sense that the young Maguire would someday become a writer.

Two years after receiving a B.A. from the State University of New York at Albany, his first book for children was published: The Lightning Time (1978). From there, he went on to write several other books for children, and stayed active as author, teacher, and advocate in the area of children's literature. He taught for eight years at Simmons College Center for the Study of Children's Literature, and is founder and co-director of Children's Literature New England, Incorporated - a non-profit educational charity established in 1987, which "focuses attention on the significance of literature in the lives of children."

Mr. Maguire earned his Ph.D. in English and American Literature from Tufts University (1990). In 1995, his first novel for adults was published: Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, and from there he has gone on to write several others, as well as more children's titles.

Born on June 9, 1954, Gregory Maguire has lived in Dublin, Ireland, and London, England. He now makes his home in Concord, Massachusetts, with his family.

Sources:
Gregory Maguire: About Gregory (author official site)
An Interview with Gregory Maguire
Gregory Maguire (Wikipedia)
Gregory Maguire (GoodReads)
Gregory Maguire: Biography
Meet the Writers: Gregory Maguire

* * *

Elaine Clayton: Illustrator

Elaine Clayton comes from a large family, and she says that while growing up in such an environment: 

"I...learned the importance of lively conversation and storytelling. As I grew up, my private world was one involving characters I drew, whole families of people with stories I made up."

This childhood immersion into story and art seems a solid foundation for the artistic paths she has followed as an adult: fine artist, and children's book author and illustrator. 

Ms Clayton earned a BFA in 1984 from Atlanta College of Art, and went on to receive her MFA in Illustration from the School of Visual Arts in New York City in 1996. She has taught elementary school in Atlanta and Boston, and has worked as a community organizer in Cesar Chavez camps for Spanish and Indian migrants.

Her first children's book, Pup in School, was published in 1993, while she taught at the Atrium School in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Since then, she has gone on to write and/or illustrate many other books for children, including those for which she may be best known: her illustrations in Gregory Maguire's Hamlet Chronicles series for middle grade readers. Her work has also appeared in such publications as the New York Times. In addition to her illustration work, Elaine Clayton accepts commissions for various fine arts projects, including murals, portraits, studio and landscape painting.

Born in the Texas Panhandle in 1961, Elaine Clayton has lived in Texas, Kansas, and Georgia. She now lives in New England with her husband and two sons.


Sources:
Elaine Clayton: About the Artist (official site)
Elaine Clayton (Answers.com)
Elaine Clayton (1961-) Biography - Personal, Address, Career, Writings, Work in Progress, Sidelights (jrank.org)
Elaine Clayton (Jacketflap.com)

Author Spotlight: Janet Taylor Lisle

You might say that Janet Taylor Lisle has writing in her blood: her father wrote stories as a young man, she has been a writer since childhood, and her daughter writes. Ms Lisle has built upon this seemingly natural inclination to write, and has worked hard to become the writer she is today.

Ms Lisle's writing career began with a degree in English Literature from Smith College in 1969. She spent the next two years in Atlanta, Georgia, working for VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America). Her time with VISTA inspired her try her hand at journalism, so she enrolled in the appropriate coursework at Georgia State University. She then worked as a journalist for the next 10 years, before moving to New Jersey in 1981 with her husband and young daughter.

Her foray into writing for children was sparked during a writing workshop she took after that move, where she was introduced to children's book editor Richard Jackson. Jackson accepted her first book, The Dancing Cats of Applesap, in 1983. It was published in 1984, and Jackson has worked with her ever since. 

Says Jackson:

"Janet Taylor Lisle is drawn to the mystery of things, to the ambiguity of life that books for children often gloss over...her interest is in what's hidden. As well as why."

Janet Taylor Lisle was born in Englewood, New Jersey, on February 13, 1947. The oldest - and only girl - of five kids, she grew up in rural Rhode Island and in Connecticut, and spent her summers in Rhode Island. She now lives on the seacoast of Rhode Island with her two cats, Kayla and Roosevelt, and her husband, Richard.

Sources:
Birthday Bios: Janet Taylor Lisle (Children's Literature Network)
Janet Taylor Lisle (Biography.jrank.org)
Janet Taylor Lisle (Penguin.com)
Janet Taylor Lisle (New England Independent Booksellers Association)
Janet Taylor Lisle - Author Page (official site)
An Interview With Janet Taylor Lisle - With Booksellers Baker and Taylor (via official site)
The truth is never easy to define in this novelist's provocative and surprising stories - Riverbank Review Author Profile 2002 (via official site)

Author Spotlight: Andrew Clements

If you were to ask Andrew Clements why he became a writer, he may possibly respond the same way he did in an article for Scholastic.com:

"I didn't wake up one morning when I was in fourth or fifth grade and say, 'I know! I know! I'm going to be a writer!' That never happened to me. I think the reason I'm a writer is because first, I was a reader. I loved to read."

That love of reading isn't the only reason he became a writer, but it seems to be one of the most important ones.

Mr. Clements was a literature major at Northwestern University, where he also did a bit of songwriting and poetry writing on his own time. A professor at a nearby college saw his writing, and she asked him to teach creative writing at a series of summer high school workshops which she'd organized. It was during this experience that he found he liked teaching, and so he completed a Master of Arts degree in teaching from National Louis University.

Beginning in 1972, Andrew Clements taught in public schools north of Chicago, Illinois: two years of fourth grade, three years of eighth grade English, and two years of high school English. After that, he and his wife and 2 1/2 year old son moved to New York City, so he could pursue a singer-songwriter career, which lasted about a year and a half.

From there, he found a job working for a small publisher who specialized in how-to books. Then, he took a position helping a college friend launch a new company which imported children's books from Europe - translating and adapting them for the North American market. This new venture was first called Alphabet Press, and later became Picture Book Studio. Mr. Clements worked there as a sales manager, and an editorial director, and also wrote picture book texts.

Andrew Clements' first published work was A Country Christmas Treasury, about which he says,

"I'd built a number of the projects featured in the book, and I was listed as one of the 'craftspeople' on the acknowledgements page, in tiny, tiny type."

His first picture book was Big Al, published in 1987.

Then, in 1990, when he was doing an author visit at a school, he got the idea for a story about a kid who makes up a new word. That story became his first novel, Frindle, published in 1996. Frindle became Andrew Clements' most popular book, and he credits this title as being the one that ultimately led to his career as a full-time writer. Since then, he has written many novels and books for various age levels, from grades K-12.

Born in Camden, New Jersey, on May 7, 1949, Andrew Clements now lives in Westborough, Massachusetts, with his wife Rebecca. They have four grown children.



Sources:
Andrew Clements Official Site: Bio
Andrew Clements - Wikipedia.org
Andrew Clements biography - Scholastic.com
Gale Biographies of Children's Authors: Andrew Clements - Answers.com

Author Spotlight: Author Amy Timberlake, and Author + Illustrator Adam Rex

Author:
Amy Timberlake comes from a storytelling family who put just as much importance on listening to a tale, as they did to telling it:

"On my dad's side of the family," she says, "there was a respect for letting a person tell a story in their own style (and, by the way, style and elaboration were appreciated). You did not interrupt, even if a person spoke for a good 20 minutes."

It was one particular tale which her grandfather used to tell, which came from a true story her great-grandfather used to tell, which he supposedly told to a New Mexico newspaper, that gave her the spark for what eventually became her first picture book. The original story (or something close to it) takes up one short paragraph. But Amy Timberlake took that story and fleshed it out some, and wrestled with it some, and between her and illustrator Adam Rex, they stretched that short tale into a tall one: The Dirty Cowboy, (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2003).


Since then, Ms Timberlake has gone on to write a middle grade novel, That Girl Lucy Moon (Hyperion, 2006), and has a third title in the works with Knopf, tentatively titled Pigeon-Shot, with a possible release date of 2012.


Ms Timberlake is a member of the Illinois chapter of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI). She has taught writing at the Visual Arts Center in Richmond, VA, and at the University of Illinois at Chicago, where she also received a M.A. in English/Creative Writing. She has been a book reviewer and columnist, a book event coordinator, the Public Information Officer at the Virginia Commission for the Arts, and a children's bookseller. She has also worked for the Chicago Botanic Garden.


Amy Timberlake grew up in Hudson, Wisconsin, and now lives with her husband in Chicago, Illinois.

* * *

Author/Illustrator: 
Growing up in  Phoenix, Arizona, Adam Rex saw his older brother as "the smart one," and his younger sister as "the cute one," but he saw himself as "the one who could draw." So, he took a lot of art classes, hoping to improve his drawing skills. Then, when he was 11, he began painting. From there, he went on later to receive a BFA from the University of Arizona.


He used his talents to produce illustrations for fantasy role-playing games, and then broke into illustrating children's books. He is well known in children's illustrating circles for creating sculptures to use as models for his illustrations. The Dirty Cowboy (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2003), written by Amy Timberlake, is his first picture book. When asked about his switch to children's book illustration, Adam Rex responded:

"I've always had a love of inventing stories, so I think it was natural I should gravitate toward kids' books, where words and pictures often share the stage equally. That or comics, which I also love."

Since then, Mr. Rex has illustrated a variety of picture books, some of which he also wrote. In 2007, he wrote and illustrated his first middle grade novel: The True Meaning of Smekday (Hyperion). His next novel, Fat Vampire (a young adult title), came out in July 2010.


Adam Rex lives with his wife, Marie, in Tucson, Arizona, where he "draws, paints, writes, spends too much time on the internet, and listens to public radio."

* * *

Sources:
Amy Timberlake Official Site - Bio
Amy Timberlake - Children's Literature Network
Amy Timberlake Biography - jrank.org
Insights From Illinois Authors - article excerpt
Help! The Writing Process of The Dirty Cowboy: From Family Story to Published Book


Adam Rex Official Site - Bio
Interview with King of the Monster Illustrators Adam Rex - GeekDad from Wired.com
Letter to Myself: Adam Rex - Anna Staniszewski website
Adam Rex Interview - BSC Kids
Local Author Profile: Adam Rex - PhiladelphiaStories.com

Author Spotlight: Alan Snow

Alan Snow has worked in a wide variety of situations: design of a children's museum in Japan; design of a project robot; mixing flavors into yogurt; forestry and tree surgery; box-maker in a factory; car design on a Third World jeep project; laborer in a bed factory; sound engineer for Reggae and Indie bands; and work in animation, film, and computers. He has even had a hand in the creation of wedding dresses...and inflatable ball gowns.

Mr. Snow attended art college between 1975 and 1979, where he studied fashion design and illustration. This schooling proved helpful not only for creating those inflatable ball gowns, but also for his more bookish pursuits: he has been illustrating since 1983, and has both written and illustrated over 160 books for children.

Of all of those books, Here Be Monsters! (2006, Atheneum) is Alan Snow's first novel. But this book has its own story: it was first published in 2005, in England, by Oxford University Press, in three parts: Pants Ahoy!, The Man in the Iron Socks, and Cheese Galore. When Snow's novels made it across the pond to the United States, they were merged into one big, 544 page, 500+ illustration-filled book: Here Be Monsters! The Ratbridge Chronicles, Volume 1.

Alan Snow was born in Bexley Heath, London, England, in 1959. He currently lives in Bath, England, and has one daughter and one son.

Sources:

Backflap of Here Be Monsters!

Here Be Monsters! Official Site (click on "About the Author")

Oxford University Press Author and Illustrator Information: Alan Snow

Write On: The Authors

An Interview with Andrea Perry - March 2003

Alan Snow interview at Honiton Library visit

Author Spotlight: Dr. Cuthbert Soup

There is a lot to be said about (The One and Only) Dr. Cuthbert Soup. He is founder and president of the National Center for Unsolicited Advice. He has served as (un)official advisor to celebrities, religious leaders, and heads of state. He travels the globe, giving inspirational speeches to unsuspecting crowds. And, as if all of that were not illustrious enough, he has recently added children's book author to his credentials - with one book already out, and one soon to be published.

Yet, Dr. Soup has achieved these lofty positions in society from rather humble beginnings. Cuthbert Hubert Egbert Soup was born to Philbert and Roberta Soup, at the height of the Great Sausage Famine, in Vienna, Austria. At the age of 23, he dropped out of high school and moved to New York City, procuring employment as a smoke detector at the mall - a rather short-lived position, as he soon found himself replaced by a machine. He then nabbed a gig playing live elevator music, but that opportunity dissolved as well, when he was fired for his trombone hitting elevator patrons.

Deciding to further his education, Cuthbert Soup enrolled in Southwestern North Dakota State University, where he was a football standout for SWNDSU's Fighting Paperclips. In fact, he led the school to a national title, and remains to this day the only student in school history to both start at quarterback and play in the pep band - at the same time. It was after earning his PhD in Unsolicited Advice that he went on to found the National Center for Unsolicited Advice, unofficially dole out wisdom to the high and influential, and give speeches to the unsuspecting masses.

And now, he has added "author" to his resume. His first book, the humorous A Whole Nother Story, was published in January 2010. Dr. Soup was asked in a Kidsreads.com interview whether he found it "easy and natural" to write humor. "Actually I find it difficult not to write humorously," he said, telling the story of the time he procured his first writing job - another position from which he was summarily fired. The job? Writing obituaries for the local newspaper. "Apparently," explains Dr. Soup, "there is 'nothing funny' about spontaneous combustion."

Dr. Cuthbert Soup lives in a semisecret location, somewhere in North America. He shares his home with his dog, Kevin, and his two pet snails, Gooey and Squishy. When he isn't advising, speaking, or writing, Dr. Soup enjoys cajoling, sneering, fencing, flossing, and practicing the trombone in crowded areas.

Sources:

Back jacketflap of the book: A Whole Nother Story

A Whole Nother Story (click on "About Dr. Soup" once you get there)

Interview of Dr. Soup, with Kidsreads.com's Melanie Smith

Behind the Book: Dr. Cuthbert Soup fills the void between 'War and Peace' and 'Wart Removal for Dummies'

In the Coop with Dr. Cuthbert Soup - Three Silly Chicks blog

Authors Revealed with Becky Anderson - Naperville Community Television, NCTV17

Author Spotlight: Stephanie S. Tolan

Stephanie S. Tolan has been a "passionate and somewhat indiscriminate reader" and Story Teller for as far back as she can remember.

"...that joy in reading," she says, "made me want to be a writer, and from the time that I was nine years old, I never doubted that I would be one."

Ms Tolan majored in creative writing at Purdue University, and went on to get her Master's degree in English. Then, amidst a marriage and caring for three young stepsons, as well as bringing another son into the world, she still found time to wedge in writing poetry and plays for adults - all while teaching college English - in the late 1960's.

In 1978, Ms Tolan's first children's novel was published: Grandpa and Me. She went on to write over 24 books for children and young adults. Her work has garnered several awards, including a 2003 Newbery Honor for Surviving the Applewhites (2002) - which also was a New York Times bestseller, and the Christopher Award (given to media that "affirm the highest values of the human spirit") for her 2006 novel, Listen!.

In addition to her work as poet, playwright and children's and young adult author, Stephanie S. Tolan has also become known as an advocate for extremely bright children. After co-authoring Guiding the Gifted Child (1982), she became a consultant to parents and educators, and speaks nationally and internationally about the social/emotional/spiritual needs of gifted kids and adults.

Born in Canton, Ohio, on October 25, 1942, Ms Tolan was then raised in Wisconsin. She now lives near Eagle Lake, in Charlotte, North Carolina, with her husband Bob, two dogs, one cat, two fish, and lots of outdoor critters.

Sources:

Stepanie S. Tolan - Official Site FAQ's

Stephanie S. Tolan - Official Site (information also gleaned from various other pages within the site)

StoryHealer

Stephanie S. Tolan - HarperCollinsPublishers