2013 Local
Authors
- Terri Farley
- William Hill
- David Michael Slater
- Theodocia Swecker
- Suzanne Morgan Williams
Nevada Reading Week Authors
Children's authors: Nevada Reading Week Conference, 2013
In her early years, Candace Fleming had a passion for storytelling. By second grade, she had become fascinated by the beauty and magic of words---the sounds they made, the way they were used, and how they made her feel. In college Candace discovered another passion: history.
Though in fifth grade, when Candace awarded herself the Newbery Medal by peeling the gold sticker off the class copy of The Witch of Blackbird Pond and pasting it on her first novel (ten pages, entitled Who Done It?), she may have unwittingly been predicting the future. She has been collecting awards ever since. Today she is a research- driven, prolific author of more than 20 books for children, including Muncha! Muncha! Muncha!, Boxes for Katje, The Fabled Fourth Graders of Aesop Elementary School, The Fabled Fifth Graders of Aesop Elementary School, The Lincolns: A Scrapbook Look at Abraham and Mary, Clever Jack Takes the Cake, Amelia Lost, and A Big Cheese for the White House. Her most recent titles are On the Day I Died (a middle school novel) and Oh, No! (a picture book), written with Eric Rohmann. Clever Jack Takes the Cake was among the 2012 finalists for the Nevada Young Readers Award. www.candacefleming.com
Although Eric Rohmann was a storyteller from a young age, he was a self-proclaimed TV generation kid who preferred doodling and drawing. Fortunately for him, teachers throughout his school years recognized his talent and encouraged him to draw during read aloud time and history lectures, and allowed him to add illustrations to his reports.
In spite of being a talented artist, Eric did not consider becoming an illustrator. Following his education, Eric worked at a zoo, as a waiter, and as a teacher of visual arts. It was not until he was unemployed and had extra time on his hands that he began working on his first book, Time Flies, which won a Caldecott Honor in 1995. Time Flies was inspired by the countless hours he spent at the Field Museum in Chicago, staring at the dinosaur bones, hoping they would move---which is why he chose to make them move in his wordless book.
Eric has created some of the finest children’s books available, including Cinder-Eyed Cats, A Kitten’s Tale, Clara and Asha, Bone Dog, and Pumpkinhead. My Friend Rabbit earned him the Caldecott Medal and later became an animated television series on NBC. He has also illustrated books written by other authors, including book covers for His Dark Materials series by Phillip Pullman and Oh No! by Candace Fleming. http://www.ericrohmann.com/
Judy Freeman is a renowned children’s literature consultant, writer, speaker and teacher. A former librarian, she conducts conferences, workshops, speeches and performances throughout the United States and abroad for teachers, librarians, parents and children. She presents seminars nationally for BER (Bureau of Education and Research). She was a member of the 2000 Newbery Committee (Bud Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis) and the 2008 Sibert Committee (The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain by Peter Sis). She is honored to serve on the 2014 Caldecott Committee, beginning in January, to choose the best picture book published in 2013.
Judy’s popular book series, Books Kids Will Sit Still For and More Books Kids Will Sit Still For, are essential resources for literature-based classrooms and libraries as is Hi Ho, Librario, a book of songs and chants. Her book, Once Upon a Time: Using Storytelling, Creative Drama, and Reader’s Theater with Children in Grades PreK-6 (Libraries Unlimited, 2007) won the 2009 Anne Izard Storyteller’s Choice Award.
When Judy’s not visiting school and libraries, or presenting at conferences, she can be found hiding in her attic in Highland Park, New Jersey, reading children’s books, pounding out reviews to meet her deadlines, with her two giant Ragdoll cats by her side and her husband downstairs cooking and “singing along with Bob Dylan records.” www.judyreadsbooks.com
Suzanne Morgan Williams is the author of middle-grade novel Bull Rider (A Nevada Young Readers’ Award selection), China’s Daughters, and 10 other nonfiction books for young readers, with more to come. She has traveled to the Canadian Arctic to work with the Inuit people in the past. Her love of northern Nevada, its ranches and its open lands, its rocky Tahoe shoreline and its wild horses, is clearly a part of her writing.
Suzanne’s Bull Rider won the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Award for Outstanding Juvenile Book of 2009. http://suzannemorganwilliams.com/
Terri Farley is the author of the popular and widely-read Phantom Stallion and Wild Horse Island series, and the young adult novel Seven Tears into the Sea. Terri’s love of horses is lifelong. She’s followed wild-horse roundups and cattle drives (and comes to the defense of mustangs). Much, much more about the adventures of Sam and the Phantom Stallion appears at www.phantomstallion.com , and on Terri’s website at www.terrifarley.com. Terri was recently awarded the University of Nevada’s Silver Pen Award. Terri currently has several books in progress.
Theodocia (Teddy) Swecker, artist, illustrator, and author, lives in Winnemucca, Nevada, with her husband, Steve, and three dogs. When she’s not writing and illustrating children’s books or painting murals on the walls of Nevada school libraries, she’s teaching oil painting classes, showing her beautiful paintings in galleries, or visiting schools and charming students. She also presents writing and drawing workshops to teachers. She’s been a regular at the Nevada Reading Week Conference for many years. www.teddyswecker.com
Jennifer and Hans Hartvickson (aka Mr. Lemur)
Hans and Jennifer Hartvickson attribute much of their interest in education to their mothers, who are both retired school teachers. Writing together as "Mister Lemur," Hans and Jen have authored three books (Mister Lemur's Train of Thought, Lemur Pup's Santa Claus Alarm, and It Will Take a Lot of Us to Lift a Hippopotamus) and produced one album (The Scheming Lemurs: Adventures
In Your Head), using stories from their books to create foot-tapping songs. Today, Jen travels the country speaking to schools, art associations and after school programs about the importance of writing, setting goals and making plans. Jen earned a bachelor's degree in Sociology and a Master's degree in Education from Stanford University. Hans Hartvickson has been writing stories and poems since he was in first grade. He loves sharing the fun of rhyming stories with kids of all ages. Hans holds a bachelor's degree in Economics from Stanford University and an M.B.B. from The University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School. To learn more about Mister Lemur visit www.MisterLemur.com.
Mark Fink , author of two books for middle grade / young adults, has written and produced for television for every major network. He’s written for Archie Bunker’s Place, Full House, and Saved by the Bell; he also created and produced Hang Time, an NBC comedy about a high school basketball team. His two YA novels, Stepping Up and The Summer I Got a Life, were published by Westside books. Stepping Up received the 2011 Nevada Young Readers Award in the Intermediate category. At present, he’s a writing coach, helping students with college application essays and the SAT, and is writing comedic plays and political pieces.
David Michael Slater has recently moved to Reno with his family. He is a Gifted/Talented English teacher at Pine Middle School. Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1970, David received his education at the Lewis and Clark College, Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Michigan. David lives in Reno with his wife, Heidi, and son, Max. David is the author of many books for children, teens and adults. A few of his children’s books are Cheese Louise; Missy Swiss; Ned Breaks his Heart and many more. David also enjoys doing school visits and presenting his love of writing books to students. His website can be found at http://davidmichaelslater.com/.
Born in Indiana, William Hill has lived in many states and places, including north and south Lake Tahoe, before settling with his wife and son in the south Carson Valley near Gardnerville. He learned to read through Superhero comic books, sci-fi, and fantasy…. all of which are reflected in the novels he’s written. Bill has a degree in Economics from Vanderbilt University and an MBA from the University of North Texas, but has chosen to escape the corporate world to immerse himself in writing imaginative fiction and fantasy. His books include Prey of the Spirit Bear, Dragon Pawns, Impatient Fire, The Vampire Hunters, The Vampire Hunters Stalked, The Magic Bicycle, Chasing Time: The Magic Bicycle 2, Wizard Sword, California Ghosting, and Vegas Vampires. For more news, see http://otterpress.com/.