There is nothing more humbling than knowing your book made a difference in the life of a child.

A few days ago I had the privilege of zooming into the STEM lab of Amy Parks, a dedicated and wonderful STEM teacher at Forts Ferry Elementary School in New York. The second grade classes in her school were getting ready to start their habitats unit and wanted to kick it off with a reading of my informational fiction picture book, EMERSYN BLAKE AND THE SPOTTED SALAMANDER.

After sharing a few slides about my love of teaching and writing, we played an animal guessing game, and then I read the book to them. During my author visits I always point out how Emersyn Blake carries her Wonderings Notebook wherever she goes so she can sketch and jot thoughts about the things she notices in nature.

Today I received the kindest email from Amy letting me know what happened AFTER the visit! ​

Amy has a copy of my other two books as well: EMERSYN BLAKE AND THE STALKED JELLYFISH and BEASTIES OF THE TREE HOLLOWS. One teacher, Sheri O'Connor, asked to borrow them and read them to her class. Look at the amazing books they created based on those readings!

When I first started writing the Emersyn Blake series, yes, I wanted to entertain and inform children, but I really wanted to provide picture books that elementary teachers could integrate seamlessly into their science lessons. One of the last sentences of Amy's email will stay with me forever: "The teacher said it has been her most enjoyable week of the year."

If you or anyone you know would be interested in an author visit to learn about EMERSYN BLAKE or the BEASTIES OF THE TREE HOLLOWS, please leave me a comment or click on my Connect button! Wow, what a week!

Let me start by saying I have NEVER, in our almost 30 years of living on our pond, seen a loon here. We've had resident mallards, Canada geese, wood ducks, grey herons, and this year an osprey--but never a loon.

Yesterday morning, I was finishing up some research I've been doing on loons for a new picture book manuscript. I needed to return some reference books about this interesting species to the library, so I was squeezing out every last detail I could.

Fast forward to the afternoon. My daily walk with Mocha, our Shih-Poo, always includes a visit to our pond, her favorite place. I immediately noticed a bird in the distance diving under the surface of the calm water. My heart started pounding as I raced to get my binoculars. Sure enough, it was a loon.

It's #SpringFlingKidlitContest time once again! Thank you to Kaitlyn Sanchez, Ciara O'Neal, and guest judge Cindy Lurie for organizing and judging this fun event!

SPRINGTIME FOR JELLYFISH

When I was around nine or ten, my younger brother gave me a snow globe for Christmas. Inside the globe was a boy pushing a girl on a sled (we grew up in Vermont). I instantly treasured that snow globe. It wasn't the expensive kind made of thick glass and a heavy base, but it meant the world to me.

I have thought a lot about that snow globe over the past year. It is the best symbol I can think of for 2024. On February 26, 2024 my sweet younger brother passed away. That was the day someone picked up my snow globe and gave it a good shake. And then on May 3rd (which would have been his 54th birthday) someone shook it harder - I was diagnosed with breast cancer.

The interesting thing is that I felt like I was inside the snow globe for the remainder of 2024. The world went on outside, but I couldn't see past the blizzard going on inside. Flurries like grief, CT scans, MRIs, biopsies, chemo, surgery, and radiation continued to blind me. Just like walking through a real blizzard, I felt like I had to keep my eyes down, constantly watching where my  feet were going, to be able to save my own life.

Don't get me wrong, there were amazing doctors and nurses in there with me along with my loving family and faithful friends. But I couldn't read. I couldn't write. I couldn't wonder out in nature. Everything I love doing stayed outside the globe. I know a lot of people find solace in writing when facing a hardship, but I...just...couldn't.

Happily, since January 16th, the last day of my radiation treatments, the snow has begun to settle. The winds have died down. The bitter cold is subsiding and I can begin to become part of the outside world once again. The joy of the sled ride is replacing the chill and blinding snow of the storm.

Over the past eight months, since my retirement from elementary education, I have really enjoyed REIMAGINING (my #OneWord for 2024) myself. Part of that has included jumping head first into improving my craft writing picture books.

Although the path to attaining an agent and learning all about the traditional publishing world has a rather steep learning curve, there have been gems along the way.

One is the amount of support and opportunity from the #KidLit community including many fun and informative writing contests, the other is connecting with other children's writers, like my wonderful critique partners!

After recently spending the afternoon with my granddaughter, watching her partake in a common time-honored childhood tradition, I decided to enter the #SpringFlingKidLit Contest hosted by Kaitlyn Leann Sanchez and Ciara O'Neal. This fun contest asks writers to craft a 150-word story based on a spring-related GIF.

​Hope you enjoy! (And can relate! Haha!)

Dandelions Are Sneaky!

I run to the window
to see if they’re here!
They always come out
when springtime is near.

Their sweet yellow heads
now cover the lawn.
They’re just waking up
with a pollen-filled yawn.

I’ll have to wait longer--
the process proceeds
from cute yellow flower
to fluffy white seeds!

Hooray! Now it’s time!
I pick one so gently,
then stop to consider
my wishes, intently.

Selecting my favorite,
I deeply inhale.
But the bloom is too close--
an important detail!

My wish is forgotten,
I cough and I choke.
Who is that laughing?
Could this be a joke?

I scan the whole yard.
There is no one around.
Just fuzzy white flowers
all over the ground.

I pick out another
and give it a try.
I remake my wish,
blowing seeds to the sky!

So always remember
before you begin,
Dandelions are sneaky--
breathe out and not in!

Thank you so much to all the judges donating their time and prizes to this contest! Make sure you check out and support their amazing work HERE!

Been there, done that? I'd love to hear about it. Feel free to leave a comment!

Every year Susanna Leonard Hill runs several writing contests. This year I entered her Valentiny contest which required stories be no more than 214 words. The theme was "enthusiasm". I had so much fun writing Glitter and Glue and am happy to announce that it was a 6th place finalist!

First of all, Happy New Year! I hope this year holds some amazing adventures for you!

I am not usually into the whole One Word wave, but this year is a little different for me.

As many of you know I retired last July after 32 years in public education. Having been immersed in the elementary education world for that long and then venturing out into the "real world" is like journeying to a new galaxy.

Yes, it is that profound. Those of you who have been in education for a long time know exactly what I am talking about.

We have our own vernacular, our own expectations of "the system" (some good, some not so good), our own ways of navigating successful interactions with children and adults depending on our "school roles", adherence to tight schedules (especially in elementary school where you have to plan and backup plan for every minute of the day); the entire culture of public education (although very different from when I first entered it all those year ago) is unique.

When I left that structured system, a system that had been a major part of my life for over three decades, I felt a sense of disequilibrium!

Although I have really been enjoying spending more time on my picture book writing interests, working on some contract projects for Drone Legends, and getting out and walking, it is a VERY different lifestyle.

Embedded in my educator brain is a sense of guilt:

• Am I working on projects enough?
• Should I be writing more?
• Should I really be just sitting here reading this amazing book - during the day? 
• Have I lost touch with what educators deal with ALREADY?
• Shouldn't I be doing something productive right now?

So, to combat these feelings and wean myself off the expectations (often unfair) that are engrained in many of us in the education world, I've decided to embrace my One Word for 2024!

I'm going to reimagine what it means for me to be successfully educating others through different work - namely drone curriculum development, my STEM newsletter, and super fun author visits!

I'm going to reimagine what it means for me to be a picture book author by dipping my toes into the traditional publishing world - querying for an agent.

I'm going to reimagine what it means to celebrate my new normal which may include spending time reading, taking pictures, exploring nature, checking my new trail cameras - and yes, it is okay if it's in the middle of the day!

As a huge STEM advocate, I continually tout the importance of the imagining step when leading kids through the engineering design process.

​I am REALLY looking forward to 2024 - my REIMAGINING step!

​What are you reimagining this year?

Since retiring, I've been spending a lot more time working to improve my craft as a picture book writer. This includes connecting with a lot of the children's writing community online.

Having been in education my entire life, this new world of traditional publishing: querying agents, learning from editors, lurking as new online connections converse about the overwhelming process, has been very interesting!

Last night when I saw others tweeting (yes, I will always call it that!) about Susanna Leonard Hill's 2023 Holiday Writing Contest, I knew I had to give it a shot (my first writing contest ever)! The theme this year is Holiday Countdown so the piece had to include counting something down.

The hardest part was reducing my first draft to the 250 word limit, especially while trying to keep the rhyme and meter as tight as possible. Some of that smoothness was sacrificed, but lesson learned!

Those of you who know me, know I am passionate about integrating relevant STEM at the elementary level! So you KNOW I had to include a drone in my entry!

As I wrote Devoted Drone Deliveries, I thought back to missions our GLIDE girls had done over the years and how it is so important for girls to see themselves represented in drone education and the drone industry.

I knew the main character had to be one of the most caring and amazing young drone pilots I'd had the pleasure to teach, Jordan.

As a side note, the importance of growing this representation and elementary drone integration is exactly why I am so honored to be part of the curriculum team at Drone Legends! They share that passion!

So anyway! Here is my debut writing contest entry! Enjoy!

​Devoted Drone Deliveries

Jordan loves the people who
live in her neighborhood!
Holidays are here again
and so to do some good…

She wants to use her trusty drone
to give each house a gift,
that way she’ll stay anonymous
and spirits she will lift!

House number 10, Mr. Frost
works down at the deli.
To him, she gives some homemade bread
and jar of apple jelly.

Number 9, Mrs. Green,
a mom with seven kids,
her gift is cookies, sweetly baked
in tins with matching lids.

Number 8, on down the street,
John and Jerry Knox,
they work out in the cold all day
their gifts, knitted socks.

Number 7 is the place
the Lopez family lives.
They always wave and shout hello,
a smiley flag she gives.

Number 6, Grandpa Frank,
although he’s not related,
he’s loved by everyone around
his gift, art she created.

Number 5, with fading paint
belongs to Captain Smoots,
he works hard daily catching fish;
her drone delivers boots.

Number 4, Mrs. Nell
who has a bunch of cats,
Jordan gives her treats and toys
that look like little rats!

Number 3 belongs to Ann
who sleeps during the day,
she works the night shift at the mill,
for her, a big bouquet.

Number 2, a tiny home
owned by Officer Mark,
a flashlight is his gift this year
to help him in the dark.

Number 1, the final stop
is Jordan’s own home place.
She views the pictures from the drone,
smiles on EVERY face!