A few weeks ago, I left my desk research, loaded a bunch of books and accordion files into my trunk and drove east. I was on the Interstate for two days before I veered off onto some winding mountain roads that would lead to my destination. “Leaving the Interstate”is the perfect metaphor for the particular… [Read More]
It’s Children’s Book Week! Running May 12-18, 2014. Learn More…
May 13, 2014 By
For 95 years, the importance of children reading and having access to books has been the focus of National Children’s Book Week (NCBW). Special events, contests, freebies and literacy education are presented across the country by the non-profit Every Child A Reader. Teachers, writers, parents, booksellers, librarians, publishers, teens and kids: Find all kinds of… [Read More]
Work in Progress #15: The Joy of a Legal Pad
May 6, 2014 By
There’s a time in my writing process when I have been sweating and agonizing and re-thinking how to proceed with a chapter and am terrified to actually start writing it. The amount of material I have to include seems overwhelming, I need to be sure to include enough warm, human parts in the midst of… [Read More]
Common Core State Standards and My Writing
April 15, 2014 By
When Publishers Weekly asked public librarians to name the “big issues” they are currently talking about, Common Core was at the top of the list. These librarians see Common Core as an opportunity to spotlight the great nonfiction young library-users have been overlooking for years. You might want to take a look at their comments… [Read More]
Monitor by James Tertius deKay Reviewed by Connie Nordhielm Wooldridge
April 7, 2014 By
Monitor; The Story of the Legendary Civil War Ironclad and the Man Whose Invention Changed the Course of History by James Tertius deKay. Ballantine Books, 1997. 247 pages; $11.95 (paperback). Reading level: high school/adult. Building on the premise that it was not the more famous land battles that determined the outcome of the Civil War… [Read More]
Duck, Duck, Moose! Reviewed by Connie Nordhielm Wooldridge
March 10, 2014 By
Duck, Duck, Moose! by Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen; illustrated by Noah Z. Jones; Disney/Hyperion, 2014. 32 pages; $16.99 (hardcover); reading level: ages 2-5. The text on each page of this story about three friends – two ducks and a moose – couldn’t be more spare: You guessed it – “Duck, Duck, Moose.” The illustrations tell the tale… [Read More]
Canada Reviewed by Connie Nordhielm Wooldridge
February 18, 2014 By
Canada by Richard Ford. Ecco/HarperCollins, 2012. 420 pages; $15.99 (paperback). Reading level: adult. When sixty-six-year-old Dell Parsons looks back on the six weeks that changed his life back when he was fifteen, he begins his story this way: “First I’ll tell about the robbery our parents committed. Then about the murders, which happened later.” It… [Read More]
Connie’s Winter Reading List. What Are You Reading?
February 11, 2014 By
Our snowy winter here in Indiana is slowing me down and providing an opportunity to make a dent in the pile of titles stacked on my nightstand. Canada by Richard Ford. Besides the author’s credentials (he won a Pulitzer for his novel Independence Day), the first sentence has me hooked: “First, I’ll tell about the… [Read More]
Creative Writing Now is Offering a 5-part Audio Course on Writing and Publishing Children’s Books
February 11, 2014 By
Interested in starting a career as a childrens book author? Then check out this 5 part audio course. Connie lead the course on writing non-fiction, and the other courses are taught by accomplished writers Linda Leopold Strauss, Sally Derby, Emma Carlson-Berne and Mary Kay Carson. >> Learn More / Purchase the Course Course Contents Write and… [Read More]
Work in Progress #14: Mini-Timelines
January 6, 2014 By
As I emerge from the holidays and sit down at my computer again, I find it takes a long time to even remember where I was when I left off. I had written the first few paragraphs of Chapter 7 but stalled out for some reason. As I reread those paragraphs I find I don’t… [Read More]