Anna Egan Smucker

 
 
I was very honored to be inducted to my hometown of Weirton's Hall of Fame over the weekend.  Weirton is where No Star Nights is set.  As a special surprise, my brother Johnny flew my daughter Mary and my two grandsons down from Boston!  I am so grateful to all the family and friends who showed up for this special day.  You can see details of the event here. 
 
 
Here are some photos of me at the ABLE Families Afterschool Program in Kermit, WV.  The kids were great.  They were so attentive and enthusiastic, and had lots of good questions about NO STAR NIGHTS.  They had heard the story read aloud earlier in the week and had been doing art and writing activities inspired by the book.  When I walked in they were being served Tabitha's homemade cabbage rolls!  A little bit of Weirton in Mingo County, WV!!  The program, with help from a WV Humanities Council grant, bought each child a copy of NO STAR NIGHTS.  The afternoon ended with an autograph session that allowed me to talk to each child individually as I signed the books.  

 The ABLE Program works to "confront the systemic causes of poverty in northern Mingo County, WV.  Check out their website at http://www.ablefamilies.org and you can't help but be impressed with their important and far-reaching projects. 
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-- reading aloud to my three-year-old grandson, Aaron.
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video credit:  Appalachian Power
 
 
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Here is a photo of me with Harrison County Commissioner Frank Angotti as he reads the proclamation declaring "Anna Egan Smucker Day."  To the right is Phyllis Wilson Moore, literary researcher, author, friend and great supporter of WV authors.  She spearheaded the effort to create West Virginia's first official literary map.  You can see it on the easel on the left side of the photo.
 
Titled "From a Place Called Solid," I'm honored to be one of the 35 authors on the front of the map.   For a closer look, click Literary Map of West Virginia   For more information on it, click First Official Literary Map of W.Va. Created | Fairmont State University
 
 
I was so honored to find out that The Harrison County Commission has declared September 10th "Anna Egan Smucker Day". You can see a nice video after clicking the link on this page. 
 
 
The website America Writes For Kids lets you search for information about authors and their books alphabetically or by state. All you have to do is click on a map or an alphabet letter to get started. Then you can visit links for more about young readers and writers, authors and books.
 
 
A popular pavilion feature at the National Book Festival, especially among young readers and their families, is “Discover Great Places Through Reading” -- a free map of the United States that can be presented at each table for an appropriate state sticker or stamp. On the back, the map includes “52 Great Reads About Great Places,” a reading list of books for young people compiled with a recommendation from each state.

Every state selects a book and author to represent itself for the festival, and this year the WV Library Commission's Center for the Book has chosen GOLDEN DELICIOUS:  A CINDERELLA APPLE STORY by Bridgeport, WV author Anna Egan Smucker.  More than 120,000 people attended the festival last year. 

Here is a link to this year's poster:  2009 Festival Poster - 2009 National Book Festival (Library of Congress)
 
 

These are workshops for writers of children's books that I highly recommend.

Appalachian Writers Workshop in Hindman, KY:  workshops in all genres, including workshops on Writing Stories for Children conducted by George Ella Lyon and other published authors 

Writers Workshop at Chautauqua from the Highlights Foundation.  And Highlights Foundation: workshops for children’s writers and illustrators, hosted by the people behind Boyds Mills Press and Highlights magazine.

Online and Correspondence Workshops:
Institute of Children's Literature: a correspondence course. The program offers excellent instructors and a monthly newsletter.

Children’s Writer Author Meredith Sue Willis has a terrific “Resources for Writers” site.  She also conducts online writing classes.

I hope you find these children's book writingr workshops helpful.  Please let me know if you do.

 
 

The Purple Crayon: A Children's Book Editor's Site from freelance editor Harold Underdown. A very comprehensive children's writers and illustrator’s site: what you need to know starting out as well as articles on a variety of publishing related subject. Includes information about writing, promotion, publishing and more. 

Cynthia Leitich Smith Children's Literature Resources.This site contains nearly 1000 files and nearly 12,000 links to places on the web. It is also one of the most linked-to sites relating to children's and young adult literature on the

Children's Writing Resource Center presented by Children's Book Insider, The Newsletter for Children's Writers. Both site and sponsoring newsletter are recommended, especially to beginners.

Frequently Asked Questions from the Children's Book Guild of Washington, DC includes advice for beginning writers and illustrators 

Writers' Resources from the Highlights Foundation at Chautauqua. Articles by faculty on a variety of writing-related subjects. 

Aaron Shepard's Young Authors Page: Writing and Publishing as a Kid from author Aaron Shepard's Web site.

TRIPLE TRACKING METHOD for tracking your manuscripts can be downloaded from the website