Gets a Star from Kirkus!

About Me  

A short autobiography with photos.                              

Vita--just the facts  

Quilts, Dolls, and Books: How they tie together in my life. 

Other published members of the family
    Gary is working on several new manuscripts.
    Sarah has been very busy writing along with mothering.
           Check out Princess School!

    Bethany has her creative juices flowing in a different field
Several of her craft projects have been published in Lark books and she and Sarah joined forces to do SHOW OFF in 2009.
    Lassen is painting murals.
and

Mom some of my mother's beautiful quilts

Featured Quilter in Maria Michaels Designs Newsletter, November 2005
       Includes photos of the Winter Lights quilts on exhibit in Santa Clarita

Grossnickle and Slater Geneologies:
On my mother's side I'm Putman and Gibson, but I don't have these typed up yet.

Descendants of John and Peter Grosnickel, many of whom still live in the area settled by the brothers in the 1700s have an annual reunion at the Grossnickel Church of the Brethren in Myersville, Maryland each October. I attended in 2007 and enjoyed meeting these relatives I didn't know I had. For more information see their newsletter

About My Books 

Books currently in print:

Books out of print 

On these lists each book is pictured with a short descriptive blurb.
Click on the title to go to a larger picture of the cover, 
information about the creation of the book, and reviews. 
Some link to "Things to do" for suggested follow-up activities.

Complete list of published works and honors.

A text only list.
 

All the things I'm most often asked, including all I know about "How to get published".

About my work --including how I got started and how you might too.
About publishing companies --who they are and what they do.
About my life and family. updated February, 2010

Not very newsy news, I'm afraid. I'm not very good at keeping this up-dated. In early 2005 I have just added the highlights of 2004. Life gets way too busy and I'd rather spend my time writing and creating new art works, working in my garden, and visiting with family and friends. Today my favorite quote is, "Life is short so you have to move slowly."* I'm trying to learn to move slowly and not worry about not doing everything!

*Thai saying from Bill Moyers, "The Language of Life." .

Read a book and try some of these activities by yourself or with a class.
Teachers and homeschoolers may find ideas to use even without my books.
          Things to think and talk about.
          Things to do: Projects in art, science, math and social studies.
          Story Starters: Ideas for writing your own stories.

Coloring Pages: and suggestions for using them creatively.

Computer Coloring Pages. Download and click to color!

Suggestions for using Pieces in math, language arts, and art.
          Color and value pages
Links to other sites with quilt related lesson plans and activities.

A guide to my patterns and books illustrated with fabric.
          See step-by step how I created the quilts for my books.
          New pages on the Winter Lights Quilt!
Selected links to other sites for quilters--especially beginners.

Cover such topics as getting started, critiquing your writing, accepting rejections, tips for illustrators, voice of the picture book, encouraging kids to follow their dreams, and more.

Reading to Kids

A Read-Aloud Guide for Parents and Caregivers

          Selecting books for various ages

          Reading Tips

 

Why is it important to read to young children...and older ones , too?

A Little Jingle -just for fun!

See the pictures and hear me read along.

Keep Your Old Hat
The Secret Keeper
Jackie's Lunch Box
They Really Like Me

Bookshop
 

My Books  
Ordering my out-of-print books
Ordering my books for author appearances

My Recommendations
          Books on writing and illustrating
          Books on literacy, child development and favorite read-alouds

How to get a free bookplate  

Links  

Links for kids, parents, teachers, writers, illustrators, and others interested in children's literature.

Try this special link: The Hunger Site.   My browser is set to go here first whenever I go on line. I click on the link and sponsors for the day each donate food to the United Nations World Food Program. I also click on the Child Health, Literacy, and Breast Cancer sites everyday. Choose your own favorite causes. It only takes a minute or two.

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