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2015

May
Tips for Parents on Raising a Confident Child featured image
advice parenting personal

Tips for Parents on Raising a Confident Child

Advice and reflections on raising children who are happy, independent, and authentically "themselves."

Congratulations to Lauren Gallegos! featured image
news

Congratulations to Lauren Gallegos!

The 2015 Bronze IPPY was awarded to CWG Contributor and illustrator Lauren Gallegos and author Alane Adams for their picture book, The Coal Thief!

Teachers Who Care featured image
advice personal

Teachers Who Care

Teaching really isn’t about the paycheck.  It’s about changing lives, building futures, and creating leaders.

A Special Day at B&N with Author Ame Dyckman! featured image
education news parenting

A Special Day at B&N with Author Ame Dyckman!

CWG's roving reporters happened upon a special find today! Students from the Princeton Day School were gathered to help Ame Dyckman celebrate her new release, Wolfie The Bunny, and to help kickoff summer reading.

Coffee Talk: The Legend of Kaldi featured image
humor lifestyle

Coffee Talk: The Legend of Kaldi

Have you ever heard the legend of Kaldi and the Dancing Goats? One legend tells us that while Kaldi was tending his goats one day, he noticed several of his herd eating bright red “berries” from a nearby tree...

Beyond Research: Real Life Experiences Inspire Nonfiction featured image
advice

Beyond Research: Real Life Experiences Inspire Nonfiction

Nonfiction can be easier to sell than fiction, because fewer people write nonfiction, but more publishers want it. It makes sense to start by finding a topic that interests you, and which will hopefully interest young people as well. You'll want to do extensive research with reliable sources. But research alone is not always enough.

The Power of Books featured image
education personal

The Power of Books

My early books set the foundation for a love of reading and a life of learning. Education has the power to transform a life: It did mine. But a good education eludes many people. The starting point? Learning to read. The social problems of illiteracy affect every one of us, but these are problems we can solve.

Josephine featured image
humor personal

Josephine

In pouring over this morning’s photos of the reenactment of the battle of Appomattox, I had to think of Josephine Baldassare, as behind every one of those living history reenactors is a talented, dedicated and caring seamstress who is able to take an ordinary man, and turn that man into General Grant, or General Lee, a soldier, or a young drummer boy.

What Words Look Like featured image
advice art

What Words Look Like

I often speak at libraries, schools, conferences and signings and inevitably someone comes up to me and utters those words. I love their enthusiasm, their joy in sharing something they’ve created and their eagerness to publish a real book. My first response is to give them a little bit of information on how the publishing process works including commissioning art.

Magical Outlining Through Mapmaking featured image
advice lifestyle

Magical Outlining Through Mapmaking

How to key in to what inspires you and extend it to become the foundation for your writing using "Mapmaking" outlining techniques.

Finding My Character, in the Beginning featured image
advice

Finding My Character, in the Beginning

Who is my character, what shall I call him, or her? What is the story about? Where should I start? These are the questions I ask myself when an idea lands in my head. Get to know your character from the beginning.

Mining Memories: Real Life Experiences Inspire Stories featured image
advice

Mining Memories: Real Life Experiences Inspire Stories

Ideas are everywhere, including in our own lives. Personal and family experiences can provide the raw material to be molded into publishable stories and articles. By mining real-life experiences, authors can find many gems of setting, character, plot, theme, or emotion that make for powerful fiction or nonfiction.