I teach a variety of writing workshops and author presentations for youngsters and adults.
PROGRAM DESCRIPTION: I adapt my programs to the age group and requests of the teachers. These range from reading and discussing my stories, illustrating stories, conducting writing workshops, and helping teachers develop lessons.
I also share the research and writing process of my works in progress:
Papa Goes To War, inspired by my ancestors during the Civil War
Uncle "Buffalo Bill" Mathewson - a picture book about my great great Uncle William Mathewson who operated trading posts on the Santa Fe Trail
Danger In The Mountains - a mystery set in the West
Sarah Jane's Daring Deed, a picture book about a pioneer girl.
(These often tie in with Social Studies classes)
Journalism and/or Writing on the Internet draw upon my experience as a professional journalist/newspaper columnist and blogger for a network
Poetry workshops also are popular.
AUDIENCE LEVELS - Pre-K, Elementary, Middle School. High School and Adult Education
TRAVEL - Yes - anywhere in the United States, with client paying travel costs and accommodations, unless I'm in that area for other business.
PUBLISHED WORKS:
Tales of Adventure & Discovery, a children's anthology which I also illustrated (An accompanying coloring book is also available.)
The Magic of Patchwork, a book about quiltmaking and its history with projects for young people and beginners
When We Become the Parent to Our Parents, the story of my mother's journey through Alzheimer'
More than 200 stories in children's magazines
Writing in Maine, New Hampshire & Vermont, a resource book for writers (out of print)
FEES: $100/1 HR; $200/1/2 day; $300/day, plus mileage beyond 50 miles from Plymouth, NH and accommodations if an overnight stay is involved
CONTACT INFORMATION: me.allen@juno.com
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Specific Children's Book Writing Goals for 2008
A friend frequently asks me, "Mary Emma, when are you finishing your Uncle Buffalo Bill book? Have you finished the Sarah Jane picture book?"
I grin sheepishly and say, "I'm working on them."
In 2008, I must stop only working on them and finish these projects!
1. Finish the book about my Uncle Buffalo Bill Mathewson, the original Buffalo Bill in the West.
2. Finish my Sarah Jane's Daring Deed picture book.
3. Finish the rough draft to Papa Goes to War, a Civil War era middle reader book based on my ancestors.
4. Develop the activities for these books and place them on my web sites.
5. Draft some of my other writing projects, but concentrate on them minimally until I have the above finished.
(My blogs at b5media you may find of interest: Quilting and Patchwork, Home Biz Notes, and Alzheimer's Notes.)
I grin sheepishly and say, "I'm working on them."
In 2008, I must stop only working on them and finish these projects!
1. Finish the book about my Uncle Buffalo Bill Mathewson, the original Buffalo Bill in the West.
2. Finish my Sarah Jane's Daring Deed picture book.
3. Finish the rough draft to Papa Goes to War, a Civil War era middle reader book based on my ancestors.
4. Develop the activities for these books and place them on my web sites.
5. Draft some of my other writing projects, but concentrate on them minimally until I have the above finished.
(My blogs at b5media you may find of interest: Quilting and Patchwork, Home Biz Notes, and Alzheimer's Notes.)
Setting Goals for 2008
We writers need to set goals if we plan to accomplish. Too often, I've had dreams and plans but haven't written them down with urgency.
This year I was encouraged to enter the Group Writing Project: 2008 Blogging Goals at Daily Blog Tips and posted these at one of my other blogs, Mary Emma's Potpourri of Writing.
Check here to see what they are...perhaps they will encourage you to write down your goals and set a strategy in place to activate them.
http://maryemmallen.blogspot.com/2007/12/writing-blogging-goals-for-2008.html
Of course, there will be other writing goals (this project pertained mainly to blogging which I do at Potpourri as well as Alzheimer's Notes, Quilting and Patchwork, and Home Biz Notes. I will formulate and state my children's writing goals in another post.
This year I was encouraged to enter the Group Writing Project: 2008 Blogging Goals at Daily Blog Tips and posted these at one of my other blogs, Mary Emma's Potpourri of Writing.
Check here to see what they are...perhaps they will encourage you to write down your goals and set a strategy in place to activate them.
http://maryemmallen.blogspot.com/2007/12/writing-blogging-goals-for-2008.html
Of course, there will be other writing goals (this project pertained mainly to blogging which I do at Potpourri as well as Alzheimer's Notes, Quilting and Patchwork, and Home Biz Notes. I will formulate and state my children's writing goals in another post.
Thursday, December 20, 2007
HOLLY FRETWELL's "Different" VIEW ON GLOBAL WARMING
We have to decide, when writing for children, whether we're "going along with the crowd," because something is a popular topic or whether we're going to do our own research and search out the truth and facts for basing our views upon. Holly Fretwell, author of The Sky's NOT Falling (Why It's OK to Chill About Global Warming) has done just that.
With all the scary information out there about global warming, it's refreshing to read a book by a natural resources policy expert that presents a different view, one complete with common sense and factual information.The Sky's NOT Falling (Why It's OK to Chill About Global Warming) is an alternative for young people and adults to the fear-inducing books published today.
Author Holly Fretwell, a mother of two and professor of natural resources policy, provides a balanced look at environmental issues and global warming scare tactics. She presents these in an easy to read and understand format for ages 8 and above.
Yes, there are environmental situations to be concerned about, but Ms. Fretwell encourages optimism about the future of our planet and the solutions we can find with human innovation and creativity, along with individual choice, not political agendas.Ms. Fretwell debunks some of the "facts" running rampant about the environment and global warming in today's world.
For instance, you've probably seen the picture of the polar bear and cub, supposedly adrift on a piece of ice because of global warming. Actually the picture was taken as a general interest one a scientific expedition. The photographer called attention to it as a polar bear and her cub on an ice sculpture. Nothing was noted about global warming nor the bears being stranded. Yet the photo was taken out of context and used for propaganda purposes.
You'll certainly want to take a look at the facts in this book about global warming and see what's really going on in a world beset by global warming scare. Check out the truth before deciding "the sky is falling."
(Published by World Ahead Media, Los Angeles, CA.; ISBN #9780976726944. The book includes fun facts and reading for ages 8 and above.)
With all the scary information out there about global warming, it's refreshing to read a book by a natural resources policy expert that presents a different view, one complete with common sense and factual information.The Sky's NOT Falling (Why It's OK to Chill About Global Warming) is an alternative for young people and adults to the fear-inducing books published today.
Author Holly Fretwell, a mother of two and professor of natural resources policy, provides a balanced look at environmental issues and global warming scare tactics. She presents these in an easy to read and understand format for ages 8 and above.
Yes, there are environmental situations to be concerned about, but Ms. Fretwell encourages optimism about the future of our planet and the solutions we can find with human innovation and creativity, along with individual choice, not political agendas.Ms. Fretwell debunks some of the "facts" running rampant about the environment and global warming in today's world.
For instance, you've probably seen the picture of the polar bear and cub, supposedly adrift on a piece of ice because of global warming. Actually the picture was taken as a general interest one a scientific expedition. The photographer called attention to it as a polar bear and her cub on an ice sculpture. Nothing was noted about global warming nor the bears being stranded. Yet the photo was taken out of context and used for propaganda purposes.
You'll certainly want to take a look at the facts in this book about global warming and see what's really going on in a world beset by global warming scare. Check out the truth before deciding "the sky is falling."
(Published by World Ahead Media, Los Angeles, CA.; ISBN #9780976726944. The book includes fun facts and reading for ages 8 and above.)
Saturday, December 01, 2007
THE TRADITION OF BEDTIME STORIES
Bedtime stories have been a tradition for at least three generations in my family. I recall my mom reading to my sister, brothers and me...Heidi, Robert Louis Stevenson's A Child's Garden of Verses poetry, and Robinson Crusoe come to mind.
My husband and I took turns reading to our daughter. He often didn't at bedtime, but while I was preparing supper. "Daddy, you skipped that part!" I'd hear her exclaim when Jim tried to get through a book more quickly.
My daughter and son-in-law, both avid readers, started reading to their children while they were infants. Reading and children go hand in hand in our household...we all still bury ourselves in a book whenever we can in spite of today's electronic world.
Stories in the Kitchen
Although most of the bedtime story reading of my youth occurred in the evening in one of our bedrooms (there were four of us children) as we sprawled on the bed. However, on cold winter evenings, Mother gathered us in front of the wood burning cookstove in the kitchen (a favorite family congregating place) and read stories. While she read, we might munch on cookies and milk or cocoa.
Reading evolves into cooking, as children learn to ponder over recipes and mix up family meals. I recall making my first cake before I fully learned to read. Mother was ill and I decided, with the help of my younger siblings, I would make a cake for supper, along with fried potatoes and eggs.
At six years old, I couldn't decipher everything in the recipe book, so decided to dispense with it and put together the ingredients I'd seen Mother use. I recall my sister and brothers around me as we stirred the batter together, then poured it into layer cake pans.
Since the wood stove oven was the only one we had, it was only natural to bake the cake there. We must have stoked the stove and read the gauge on the front of the oven door adequately. At any rate, the cake turned out fine....except it was fairly flat.
Mother, when she saw it at supper, praised our efforts, as did Father and the hired man. It was only in later years that Mother told me she concluded I'd left out the baking powder.
(c)2007 Mary Emma Allen
(I enjoy researching and writing about holiday and family memories along with teaching workshops in Family History Writing. I conduct these online as well as in person at workshops.)
My husband and I took turns reading to our daughter. He often didn't at bedtime, but while I was preparing supper. "Daddy, you skipped that part!" I'd hear her exclaim when Jim tried to get through a book more quickly.
My daughter and son-in-law, both avid readers, started reading to their children while they were infants. Reading and children go hand in hand in our household...we all still bury ourselves in a book whenever we can in spite of today's electronic world.
Stories in the Kitchen
Although most of the bedtime story reading of my youth occurred in the evening in one of our bedrooms (there were four of us children) as we sprawled on the bed. However, on cold winter evenings, Mother gathered us in front of the wood burning cookstove in the kitchen (a favorite family congregating place) and read stories. While she read, we might munch on cookies and milk or cocoa.
Reading evolves into cooking, as children learn to ponder over recipes and mix up family meals. I recall making my first cake before I fully learned to read. Mother was ill and I decided, with the help of my younger siblings, I would make a cake for supper, along with fried potatoes and eggs.
At six years old, I couldn't decipher everything in the recipe book, so decided to dispense with it and put together the ingredients I'd seen Mother use. I recall my sister and brothers around me as we stirred the batter together, then poured it into layer cake pans.
Since the wood stove oven was the only one we had, it was only natural to bake the cake there. We must have stoked the stove and read the gauge on the front of the oven door adequately. At any rate, the cake turned out fine....except it was fairly flat.
Mother, when she saw it at supper, praised our efforts, as did Father and the hired man. It was only in later years that Mother told me she concluded I'd left out the baking powder.
(c)2007 Mary Emma Allen
(I enjoy researching and writing about holiday and family memories along with teaching workshops in Family History Writing. I conduct these online as well as in person at workshops.)
Friday, April 13, 2007
Capturing Young Readers in the Electonics Age
Teachers I talk with, as I do substitute teaching and conduct writing workshops in schools, find it challenging to keep many youngsters interested in reading. They mention that it seems fewer of them like to read…or they don’t read so much at home.
“We have to compete with TV, video games, and movies to hold their attention,” one teacher remarked to me. “I feel I have to be an entertainer.”
When assigned something to read at school, many students groan, while a few (like my granddaughter) consider this an enjoyable respite from other work. Parents may find the same situation at home and need to make an effort to get their children away from electronic and television games.
Here are some suggestions that might help to encourage reading,
*Let children see you reading
*Read to young children
*Set aside a family reading time
*Have children read to one another
*Encourage children to act out stories
*Participate in reading programs at the local library
“We have to compete with TV, video games, and movies to hold their attention,” one teacher remarked to me. “I feel I have to be an entertainer.”
When assigned something to read at school, many students groan, while a few (like my granddaughter) consider this an enjoyable respite from other work. Parents may find the same situation at home and need to make an effort to get their children away from electronic and television games.
Here are some suggestions that might help to encourage reading,
*Let children see you reading
*Read to young children
*Set aside a family reading time
*Have children read to one another
*Encourage children to act out stories
*Participate in reading programs at the local library
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