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Information About Instructors

July 12-16, 2010

DAVID GREENBERG author of illustrated, humorous picture books from Bantam, Little Brown, Farrar Straus Giroux, and Dutton (which has also published his first novel).

The next book scheduled for publication is Octopi!

His book, A Tugging String, is winner of the Oregon Spirit Award. The Great School Lunch Rebellion is winner of a Children's Choice Award.

Although he has written a novel, David specializes in picture books and sub-specializes in poetry. His books have been translated into French and Korean. He has taught at Portland State University, Lewis & Clark College, and The University of Idaho, among others. He speaks nationally to teachers on writing instruction and visits many schools nationwide to present assemblies and writing workshops.

If you wish to contact him personally, his e-mail address is authilus@teleport.com

You can also get some useful sense of who he is at the Author's and Illustrators Who Visit Schools website.

ERIC A KIMMEL is the author of over sixty books for children. His works include the contemporary classics Anansi and the Moss-Covered Rock and the Caldecott Honor Book Hershel And The Hanukkah Goblins. The Association of Jewish Libraries awarded him its prestigious Sydney Taylor Lifetime Achievement Award for the body of his work.

Eric's books have won numerous state and children's choice awards. Most recently, The Three Cabritos was selected as December's featured primary book for Read On Wisconsin, a program to promote reading sponsored by Jessica Doyle, Wisconsin's First Lady. The Lady In The Blue Cloak received the Naylor Award from the Daughters of the Texas Revolution for its contribution to children's understanding of Texas history. His McCelderry Book Of Greek Myths, now in its second printing, is to be published in Athens, in Greek. According to the Greek publisher, Eric's retellings make these classic stories exciting and accessible to children, something no contemporary Greek work has succeeded in doing.

MARGRIET RUURS is the author of 26 books for children. With a Master of Education degree from Simon Fraser University, she teaches writing workshops at elementary schools across North America and has been a guest lecturer at several universities, including Iowa Writing Project at the University of Northern Iowa. The recipient of the 2005 Region West Presidential Award for Reading & Technology of the International Reading Association, she has conducted writing workshops in Lahore, Pakistan and author visits to International Schools around the world. Margriet writes a regular column on writing, as well as freelance articles, for Reading Today, the magazine of IRA.

Margriet is a popular speaker at conferences, including many State Reading Conferences, National Service Learning Conference, East Asia Regional Council of Overseas Schools, IRA National and Regional Conferences, Vancouver International Writers' Festival and others. She also conducts school visits throughout the school year, sharing her love of reading and writing with thousands of students and teachers.

"I love to use my imagination!" she says. Several of her books have won awards, including the Storytellers World Award Honor Title for Emma's Eggs and short listings for the Mr. Christie Award of Excellence, the Shining Willow and the Chocolate Lily, Blue Spruce, Utah Information Book Award and National Crown Award. My Librarian is a Camel was awarded Teacher's Choice Award and named IRA's Notable Book for Global Awareness. Many of Margriet's books reflect her interest in the natural environment: A Mountain Alphabet, When We Go Camping, Wild Babies, Logan's Lake and In My Backyard. She also likes humour as shows in Virtual Maniac, Silly & Serious Poems for Kids and Ms. Bee's Magical Bookcase.

For twelve years Margriet conducted children's programming for Okanagan Regional Libraries. She travels extensively to International Schools around the world. Margriet, her husband and two sons have lived in many different places: The Netherlands, where she was born, Alberta, the Yukon and many other parts of the U.S. and Canada. Currently she makes her home on Salt Spring Island, B.C. where she runs a booklovers' B & B. When she's not busy writing and speaking, Margriet likes to hike or knit. But what she likes best is getting children excited about writing and reading good books!

ELIZABETH RUSCH is an award-winning magazine writer and children's book author. She writes both fiction and nonfiction in the areas of science, art, sports, waves, jokes, crayons, and mud — anything that catches her fancy.

Liz began her professional writing career as an editor and writer for Teacher Magazine, a national award-winning magazine for elementary and secondary schoolteachers. That inside view of how magazine publishing worked gave Liz what she needed to know to become a successful full-time freelance writer. She has published more than 100 articles in numerous national magazines for children and adults. Her publishing credits include Muse, Read, American Girl, Harper's, Smithsonian, Mother Jones, Parenting, and Backpacker, among many others.

After spending nearly a decade writing about children, Liz was itching to write for children. Her first children's book, Generation Fix, was a Smithsonian magazine Notable Children's Book and a finalist for the International Reading Association's Children's Book Award and the Oregon Book Award. It is in its second printing and has been published in Korean.

The nonfiction chapter book Will It Blow?: Become a Volcano Detective at Mount St. Helens was a Natural History magazine Best Book for Young Readers, a Washington Reads pick, and a finalist for the Oregon Book Award. The hardcover edition is in its second printing. Liz's nonfiction picture book The Planet Hunter: The Story Behind What Happened to Pluto which the L.A. Times called "a fascinating tale, charmingly told" was also an Oregon Book Award finalist. Her picture book, A Day With No Crayons, won the Eloise Jarvis McGraw Award for Children's Literature and is a finalist for the Illinois Children's Choice award. It has been translated into Korean and is in its second printing. Liz is also the author of the nonfiction library title Conquering The Court, a Girls Got Game title on tennis.

Liz recently sold a nonfiction picture book entitled For the Love of Music: The Untold Story of Maria Anna Mozart to Tricycle/Random House and has a number of other nonfiction and fiction titles under consideration.

The homepage of Liz's website features a quotation from Carl Sagan: "Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known." Many of her books and articles are about discovery: a girl's discovery of color in the world all around here, an astronomer's revolutionary discoveries about our solar system, a young boy's discoveries about himself when he gains superpowers by plastering himself with mud.

To Liz, researching, writing, revising and even selling writing is a process of discovery that she loves to share with other budding writers. Liz has led workshops and given lectures and presentations for children and adults at schools such as Childpeace Montessori, the Merlo School, and Maimonides in Portland; colleges such as Portland State University, Duke University, and University of California at Berkeley; and conferences such as the Willamette Writers Conference, Wordstock, Chalk It Up for Literacy, the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators in Portland, Seattle and Denver, and the National Service Learning Conference in Minneapolis. She is an instructor in children's literature at The Attic Writers' Workshop in Portland, Oregon.

To learn more about Liz's books, articles, awards, teaching, and speaking engagements, visit her website at www.elizabethrusch.com.

When APRIL HENRY was 12, she sent a short story about a six-foot tall frog who loved peanut butter to noted children's author Roald Dahl. He liked it so much he arranged to have it published in an international children's magazine.

Her dream of writing went dormant until she was in her 30s, working at a corporate job, and started writing books on the side. Now she's a New York Times bestselling author who makes a living doing what she loves. She has written eight novels for adults and teens. Her books have gotten starred reviews, been picked for Booksense, translated into four languages, and short-listed for the Oregon Book Award.

April's books for teens include Shock Point and Torched, both from Putnam. Shock Point was a YALSA Quick Pick, chosen for Texas Tayshas, a finalist for the Pennsylvania Readers Choice Award and a finalist in the Top 10 Books for Teens. Her latest adult book (co-authored with Lis Wiehl), not only hit the bestseller list but has also been optioned for a TV series by CBS/Paramount.

Henry Holt is publishing two more YA novels from April: Girl, Stolen in 2010 and The Girl in the Mini Cooper in 2011.

April also reviews YA literature and mysteries and thrillers for the Oregonian, and has written articles for both The Writer and Writers Digest.

Children's book editor, MOLLY O'NEILL, grew up in Houston, Texas, but ran far away from home for college because she wanted to see snow! Four years at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, provided her with ample cold-weather experience, and her dual degree in Writing-Intensive English and Elementary Education set her on the path toward Children's Publishing. She interned at Cricket Books in Chicago, Lerner Publishing in Minneapolis, and after two years of (unrelated) full-time post-graduate volunteer work, she moved to New York City to formally begin her career in children's books.

Molly's first three and a half years in the industry were spent in the Marketing/Publicity Department at Clarion Books, where she worked with on a daily basis with luminaries such as David Wiesner, Katherine Paterson, Linda Sue Park, Russell Freedman, and Gary Schmidt. Although she enjoyed the experiences of a small, boutique-style imprint, Molly was eager for a taste of "big house" experience, so when the opportunity arose, she joined HarperCollins Children's Books as School & Library Marketing Associate. After a year and a half in that role, Molly shifted into an editorial role, also at HarperCollins, thus achieving her long-time goal of moving into the editorial side of the industry. She joined the Bowen Press at its inception in 2007 as Assistant Editor, and in 2009, she joined the Katherine Tegen Books imprint of HarperCollins.

On a daily basis, Molly's edits and assists on the editing of a fascinating variety of books. She works on literary novels like The Year the Swallows Came Early by debut novelist Kathryn Fitzmaurice and the forthcoming Word After Word After Word by Patricia MacLachlan; on commercial successes like the Emily the Strange novels by Rob Reger and the Wicked Lovely books by Melissa Marr; and on novels which bridge both the commercial and literary worlds, like Before I Fall, by Lauren Oliver, and the forthcoming You by Charles Benoit. She also works on memorable picture books like Tess's Tree by Jess Brallier and Peter H. Reynolds, Brand-New Baby Blues by Kathi Appelt and Kelly Murphy, and the forthcoming A Christmas Goodnight by Laura Godwin and Sarah Jane Wright.

A regular speaker on the craft of writing at conferences around the country, Molly enjoys the opportunity to travel widely as she seeks fresh new talent and diverse voices to add to her list. Molly blogs about editing and the convergence of life and art at www.10blockwalk.blogspot.com.

From a very young age, children's book editor, NOA WHEELER, could have told you (and would, if you'd listen) that she wanted to make books when she grew up — though the idea of something called "publishing" was not yet in the picture. In the meantime, she was content to just read them. Many years and thousands of books later, she is doing is exactly what she always knew she would be doing: editing books for kids.

Noa grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and attended Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. While a student, she worked for the literary journal The Yale Review and was a research assistant for the Thornton Wilder Estate, among other jobs. She also babysat regularly in order to get in her children's book fix. She interned at Simon and Schuster in their children's department, and after college joined Henry Holt Books for Young Readers, where she is now an Associate Editor. Noa has worked on a wide range of books at Henry Holt, from picture books with Denise Fleming, Bryan Collier, Peter McCarty, and Steve Jenkins to novels and non-fiction for teens. Most recently, she has worked on The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly, Charles and Emma by Deborah Heiligman, and the forthcoming The Queen's Daughter by Susan Coventry. She is interested in middle grade and YA fantasy/sci-fi, mysteries, and fiction both contemporary and historical.

In her spare time, Noa competes in triathlons, experiments in the kitchen, and explores New York City on her bike. But nothing beats coming home to a good book!

Children's book agent, JENNIFER LAUGHRAN, spent over a decade as a children's bookseller, including six years as a children's specialist, buyer and events coordinator for one of the largest independent booksellers in California. The best parts of her job were working with authors and being an evangelist for her favorite books Š so she decided to try her hand at doing the same thing on a larger scale as an agent. She has been an Associate Agent at Andrea Brown Literary Agency for the past two years.

Jennifer's clients include: National Public Radio's own "children's book ambassador" and the author of over 100 books for young readers, Daniel Pinkwater, whose latest novel is Adventures of a Cat-Whiskered Girl (Winter 2010/Houghton). His wife, the talented artist Jill Pinkwater, who did the vibrant illustrations for their book Beautiful Yetta (The Yiddish Chicken) (Spring 2010/Feiwel & Friends). Author/illustrator Calef Brown, whose whimsical drawings and poems have garnered him praise and multiple spots on the New York Times bestseller list. Illustrator and graphic novelist Matt Faulkner, who draws picture books for authors such as Laurie Halse Anderson and Judith St. George, as well as his own books including the upcoming graphic novel Freckles (Spring 2012/Hyperion), about a half-Japanese boy in 1942 struggling with life in an internment camp. Series author Linda Joy Singleton whose popular YA paranormals include The Seer series and the Dead Girl series, both from Flux. Jackie Dolamore, whose wonderful debut Magic Under Glass (Winter 2010/ Bloomsbury) has been described as "Libba Bray meets Charlotte Bronte". Edgy debut YA novelists L.K. Madigan (Flash Burnout — Fall 2009/Houghton) and Tara Kelly (Harmonic Feedback — Spring 2010/Holt). Kate Messner, who made a splash in 2009 with her debut Brillant Fall of Gianna Z (Walker Books), and is following that up with another middle grade novel, two picture books from Chronicle and a chapter book series from Scholastic... and these are to name just a few.

Jennifer spends most of her free time... well, reading, what else?! She is always on the lookout for fresh stories with unusual and unforgettable voice.

Instructor Panel Discussion 2006