Connie was the featured author at the Muncie Area Reading Council’s “2012 Young Author’s Conference” on April 23. This annual event is open to students in grades 1-8 to encourage young people to write creatively, provide opportunity for recognition, enhance student’s self-concept, stimulate interest in reading, and offer the experience of sharing manuscripts and/or writing… [Read More]
Just Check the Monitor’s Manifest!
March 19, 2012 By
This month marks the 150th anniversary of the sinking of the USS Monitor back in 1862, less than a year after its launch. As the most recent newsletter of the John Ericsson Society New York (JESNY) points out, the Monitor had a short life but left a long legacy, with Monitor class vessels actively deployed… [Read More]
A Response to Jonathan Franzen: Edith Wharton Was Hard (But Not Impossible) to Like
March 12, 2012 By
Responses to Jonathan Franzen’s New Yorker article “A Rooting Interest: Edith Wharton and the problem of sympathy” are flying fast and furious. He claims Edith Wharton is just plain hard to like as a person – hard to sympathize with as he puts it – and after spending years in her company while writing her… [Read More]
Win a Signed Copy of “The Brave Escape of Edith Wharton”!
March 7, 2012 By
You can win a signed copy of “The Brave Escape of Edith Wharton” just by liking Connie’s Facebook page. It’s March and in the spirit of Women’s History Month and this year’s theme – Women’s Education, Women’s Empowerment – I am giving away a signed copy of The Brave Escape of Edith Wharton (Clarion 2010). 2012 is also… [Read More]
Leif Brisfjord Won a Signed Copy of “When Esther Morris Headed West”!
March 7, 2012 By
Congratulations to Leif Brisfjord, the winner of our February give-away, a signed copy of Connie’s book about the first female US judge, When Esther Morris Headed West (Holiday House) by “liking” Connie’s Facebook page. Leif is President of the John Ericsson Society in New York City. Ericsson was the inventor of the ironclad ship the… [Read More]
A Visit to St. Paul’s School
February 29, 2012 By
Late on a February Tuesday morning, I packed a pile of books and papers into the back of my car and drove south and then east along some winding Indiana roads that led me further and further into the country. An hour and fifteen minutes later, I arrived at one of the most charming little… [Read More]
The Elijah Door – Reviewed by Connie Nordhielm Wooldridge
February 21, 2012 By
The Elijah Door; A Passover Tale Written by Linda Leopold Strauss; illustrated by Alexi Natchev; Holiday House, 2012. 32 pages; $16.95 (hardcover); reading level: ages 6-10. Long ago, in a small village that was “sometimes Poland and sometimes Russia,” the Lippas and the Galinskys lived in “side-by-side houses.” They were fast friends whose children, Rachel… [Read More]
A Late Arrival at Downton Abbey
February 17, 2012 By
I confess. I arrived late to the Downton Abbey party. When season one began I was intrigued, but Sunday nights didn’t work for me. Then everyone was watching it and my contrarian instincts kicked in: Who wants to watch what everybody’s watching? When season two began I told myself I didn’t want to jump in… [Read More]
Connie to Speak at St. Paul School In Guilford, Indiana on February 28th
February 15, 2012 By
Connie will be speaking to the students of St. Paul School in Guilford, Indiana on February 28, 2012. Contact Connie if you would like her to to speak at your school.
A Pocketful of Posies; A Treasury of Nursery Rhymes – Reviewed by Connie Nordhielm Wooldridge
February 13, 2012 By
A Pocketful of Posies; A Treasury of Nursery Rhymes Illustrated by Salley Mavor; Houghton Mifflin, 2010. 64 pages; $21.99 (hardback); reading level: ages 2-6. The artwork for this nursery rhyme collection is stunning. Mavor has lovingly stitched a variety of materials (acorn caps, stones, driftwood, buttons) onto wool felt to create scenes which were… [Read More]