Natasha Wing's Blog, page 21

Ode to Mom and Dad

Mother’s Day and Father’s Day are coming up so I wanted to share some old photos of my parents taken when we lived in Connecticut. Aren’t black-and-white photos great? The nostalgia is palatable. Check out my mom with her cool glasses.

The Lazutin girls.

I’m the girl standing wearing a hat and a mini-Jackie O coat. And that little cutie is my sister, Nina.

Here we are again with my dad.

Daddy's girls.

I’m still rocking a cool coat and hat, and my sister was even cuter. Nice widow’s peak, Dad! Apparently that white picket fence made a good backdrop. BTW, I also have a brother, but he’s probably playing with his Matchboxes somewhere while we were posing.

Thanks, Mom and Dad, for being my parents for more than 50 years! (Although you can stop parenting me now. You did a good job.)

Check out my books about Mother’s Day and Father’s Day on Amazon.

Filed under: Natasha Wing

Free Lesson Plans for Teachers

The lady who won the book giveaway is a teacher and is offering her lesson plans for The Night Before books.  A big thank you to Sara Meyer!

The links are below. Feel free to use them in your classroom.

Here's what she wrote:

Since I found your blog I've been meaning to tell you how I used your books during my student teaching (3rd grade) last spring. I read several of your books (The Night Before St. Patrick's Day, The Night Before the Night Before Christmas, The Night Before Easter, The Night Before Halloween) and had each of my students create their own "'Twas the Night Before" or "The Night Before" stories. They came up with things as varied as "The Night Before the Big Game", "The Night Before the Aliens Landed", and "The Night Before I Got my Dog". Your stories were a great springboard for the students' creativity and my cooperating teacher and university supervisor absolutely LOVED the idea. If you're interested I am willing to share my lesson plan with you and your blog readers.

Downloadable Lesson Plans:

Lang.Arts-Writing-Night.Before…Lesson.Plan copy

Twas.the.Night.Before-Story.Map copy

Filed under: Natasha Wing Tagged: lesson plans

Win this book

One of the first writers I met when I moved to Fort Collins was Teresa Funke. She heads up the Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrator regional meetings. What I admire about her is her entrepreneurial spirit – she has her own press, Victory House Press – and publishes books with WWII themes based on real people and actual events. I have a friend who was a WWII WASP who turned 90, and so I know how important it is to help save the stories of the people who lived during these war times before they pass on.

That's me in the hat!

I attended Teresa's book release party where a couple of talented high school girls performed a scene from the book. Teresa treated the audience to foods from the times when certain ingredients were rationed. Chocolate was hard to come by, so as a quiz prize, she gave a winner a 1 pound bar of Hershey's chocolate. Oh, I wished it I had won!

I purchased a copy of Wave Me Good-Bye and just finished reading it. What I found of interest was that there was an actors' orphanage in New York City that took in children from England whose parents worried for their safety during combat. The girl in the book befriends a boy who's in the orphanage, and shares her worries about the war and how Jews were being treated in the United States, since her family was Jewish. Teresa based the story on a real lady, Roslyn Arnstein, who grew up in the Bronx in the only Jewish family in her neighborhood.

This book was written for ages 9 and up and I'm giving away a signed copy to the first person who can name another one of Teresa's book titles from her Home-Front Series. Go to her website at www.teresafunke.com and find her books there. Then come back and leave your answer in the comment section.

Filed under: Natasha Wing, Teresa Funke Tagged: WWII

And the Oscar goes to…

Children's book illustrator William Joyce created this wonderful, magical and touching animated short film that won an Oscar last night. If you have love books and have 14 minutes please treat yourself to this visual delight.

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Filed under: Natasha Wing

Free St. Pat’s Book

Win this book at Old Firehouse Books!

Enter your guess as to how many leprechauns are on the cover and on the interior pages of this book at Old Firehouse Books in Fort Collins by March 15th for a chance to win a signed copy. Artist Amy Wummer cleverly inserted those wee little men throughout the book, so look carefully!

Luck be with you.

Filed under: Natasha Wing, Old Firehouse Books, Wing

Free St. Pat's Book

Win this book at Old Firehouse Books!

Enter your guess as to how many leprechauns are on the cover and on the interior pages of this book at Old Firehouse Books in Fort Collins by March 15th for a chance to win a signed copy. Artist Amy Wummer cleverly inserted those wee little men throughout the book, so look carefully!

Luck be with you.

Filed under: Natasha Wing, Old Firehouse Books, Wing

New Picture Book Expert

For those of you interested in writing for children, do you know about Children's Book Insider Clubhouse?

It's a website that offers everything from writing to publishing to promoting tips. The founders redesigned their site to make it easier to navigate, and also launched a new CBI 1-2-3 program to aid you in developing and growing your career. You can also join a private critique group on line. Or chat and ask questions of experts. Speaking of which, they have asked me to be one of two Picture Book Experts on the site! I will be writing a monthly article geared toward the picture book market. I think of myself more as a guide than an expert since I will be calling on my contacts in the industry to contribute their insights as well. So check it out. And if you have a question about writing for children, submit it online and I'll do my best to answer.

Filed under: Natasha Wing Tagged: CBI Clubhouse, Children's Book Insider, Picture Book Expert

Top Children’s Authors Share Advice in New Free eBook

This year I took on the role of Picture Book Expert for Children’s Book Insider, an online site for those interested in writing for children and marketing their published works. This is a membership site, but they also offer a free newsletter and now, this free eBook which you can download.

Free market overview

Writing for Children 2012  – A Look At The Trends Impacting Children’s Writers Today

Here’s what the eBook includes:

* Multi-million selling author Natasha Wing (Wow! What a billing!) on “What The Heck’s Happening In Picture Books?”

* Anastasia Suen — author of more than 135 books — on “The Top 10 Trends in Easy Readers”

* Newbery Honoree Kirby Larson’s “Middle Grade – Where We Are, Where We’re Going”

* Helen Landalf, author of the YA hit Flyaway on “What’s Hot in Young Adult”

* Renowned writing instructor and editor Laura Backes tells us “Don’t Fear the eBook”

* Karen Robertson, creator of The Author’s Guide to Book Apps on “Children’s Book Apps: An Exciting Opportunity For Writers”

This eBook, compiled by the editors of Children’s Book Insider: The Newsletter for Children’s Writers, is 100% free for all

members of the writing community and is available for instant download in PDF format.

Give yourself a Valentine’s Day gift – the gift of knowledge.

Filed under: Natasha Wing Tagged: Anastasia Suen, CBI, children's writing tips, free eBook, Kirby Larson, Natasha Wing, writing tips

Top Children's Authors Share Advice in New Free eBook

This year I took on the role of Picture Book Expert for Children's Book Insider, an online site for those interested in writing for children and marketing their published works. This is a membership site, but they also offer a free newsletter and now, this free eBook which you can download.

Free market overview

Writing for Children 2012  – A Look At The Trends Impacting Children's Writers Today

Here's what the eBook includes:

* Multi-million selling author Natasha Wing (Wow! What a billing!) on "What The Heck's Happening In Picture Books?"

* Anastasia Suen — author of more than 135 books — on "The Top 10 Trends in Easy Readers"

* Newbery Honoree Kirby Larson's "Middle Grade – Where We Are, Where We're Going"

* Helen Landalf, author of the YA hit Flyaway on "What's Hot in Young Adult"

* Renowned writing instructor and editor Laura Backes tells us "Don't Fear the eBook"

* Karen Robertson, creator of The Author's Guide to Book Apps on "Children's Book Apps: An Exciting Opportunity For Writers"

This eBook, compiled by the editors of Children's Book Insider: The Newsletter for Children's Writers, is 100% free for all

members of the writing community and is available for instant download in PDF format.

Give yourself a Valentine's Day gift – the gift of knowledge.

Filed under: Natasha Wing Tagged: Anastasia Suen, CBI, children's writing tips, free eBook, Kirby Larson, Natasha Wing, writing tips

Snow Curtails CCIRA Conference

A record snowstorm in Denver put a chill on attendance at the Colorado Council International Reading Association (CCIRA) conference, but the teachers, librarians and exhibitors were nothing less than warm.

Last Thursday, I presented to an audience of about 40 mostly Colorado teachers, some whom had aspirations of becoming an author. Then on Friday, after a slow, icy drive behind snow plows, I arrived safely at the conference center and manned the SCBWI booth in the Exhibit Hall. Attendance was light that day (I didn't sell any books), but I made a few contacts that may result in school visits. Later I attended the luncheon featuring Patricia MacLachlan, the author of the beloved story, Sarah, Plain and Tall.

Patricia MacLachlan

But the real reason I was at the luncheon was to support and applaud my buddy, Mary Nethery, who received the Colorado Children's Book Award for her book, Nubs: The True Story of a Mutt, Marine & a Miracle. Her co-author couldn't attend, so Mary graciously accepted the award. Afterwards, I drove home in the record-breaking snowstorm, glad to be home, but also glad to have made good contacts at the conference and to have reconnected with my writer friend, Mary.

Colorado Children's Book Award Winner, Mary Nethery

Filed under: Nubs Tagged: CCIRA, Mary Nethery, Patricia MacLachlan