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By: Writing for Children,
on 8/26/2008
Here’s the trailer and a review for Doggie Day Camp by Cynthia Reeg - a National Writing for Children Center Book Pick!
Click HERE to read a review of the book from children’s author Suzanne Lieurance.
By: Mayra Calvani,
on 3/1/2008
Bellydancing Your Way to a Newbery
by Cynthia Reeg
Here's my theory: A healthy writer is a happy writer, and a happy writer is a productive writer. And a productive writer will inevitably become a successful writer. I know. I know. You want to understand how bellydancing fits into the equation? Let me explain.
Blood flow to the brain, as well as various other body parts, is an essential element in writing. The more vigorous your blood flow, the more easily creative ideas start leaping from your brain to your fingertips and onto the page. It's really as simple as that. (Well, perhaps not quite that simple, but just work with me here.)
Writing in and of itself is a sedentary endeavor. Hours and hours plopped down in a chair can slow circulation to a crawl. Too soon your brain turns to sludge and your story comes to a standstill. How to remedy a coach potato brain? Get moving!
I know. I know. This is your writing time, you tell me. And there's too little of it to begin with. But sitting in your chair with your brain in melt down mode, hoping and praying that it will start up again as you blankly stare at the page, will not do the trick.
Bolt out of that chair and move those feet. And arms and legs. The more of you that you can get moving the better. If you've some housework to do (what do I mean "if"�just work with me here again,) then grab that vacuum and start hoovering like a robot on overdrive. Or shoot out the door and pick up the pace. Lap the block a time or two.
If the weather's bad, pop in an exercise video. Lift that leg. Tighten those abs. Or better yet, tune in some funky beats on the radio and tear up the rug in the living room.
TA-DA! This is when the bellydancing option comes into play. Bellydancing--the ultimate blood-stimulating workout. From the tips of your toes to the top of your gyrating head, you'll feel new life returning to your sluggish torso. Who cares if your shimmy is a little shaky today? It's all for a literary cause.
Essentially, it all boils down to this. Exercise whenever and however you can. The American Heart Association lists a number of amazing benefits from exercise in addition to increased energy.*
Look and feel better. (Wouldn't this come in handy when accepting your Newbery Award?)
Increase strength and flexibility (Think how many more books you could sign at your Newbery Book Signing.)
Reduce stress and tension. (Exactly what you'll need when you're behind schedule in meeting your editor's deadline for the sequel to your award-winning Newbery book.)
So the bottom line for a healthy, happy writer is to stay in shape—both literally and physically. Amp up your exercise mode, and your writing is sure to reap benefits as well. Think how much faster you'll be able type with Terminator arms. (Please, just work with me here.)
The End
*Cynthia Reeg is the author of Gifts from God and Kitty Kerplunking, both by Guardian Angel Publishing.
By: Mayra Calvani,
on 2/8/2008
In Kitty Kerplunking: Preposition Fun, Reeg teaches children, in a light and fun way, the uses of prepositions. How does she do this? With the help of one very cute Kitty and his antics about the house.
Each page features an engaging, colorful illustration and a sentence showing a preposition.
For instance...
"Preppy the kitty … pitter-pattered ON the piano keys."
Each time the preposition in the sentence is capitalized. At the end of the book there's a useful study guide as well as six pages of activities, including a criss-cross puzzle, word search, seek & find, and fill-in-the-blanks. This is the perfect book to introduce young children to prepositions.
Kitty Kerplunking:
Preposition Fun
by Cynthia Reeg
Illustrations by Marina Movshina
ISBN: 1-933090-27-8
978-1-933090-27-6
January 2006
Guardian Angel Publishing
You may also want to visit this author's website at: http://www.cynthiareeg.com/
By: Mayra Calvani,
on 1/23/2008
Did you always want to be a writer?
By: Ginger*:)*,
on 1/7/2008
By: Tamra Wight,
on 11/29/2007
Cookie is quite upset! This is one of her blankets, that I hung over the railing to air out and promptly forgot.
This little red squirrel has returned three days in a row, nibbling off pieces until his cheeks are all puffed out. 
Seeings how snow is predicted today and Sunday night, I don't have the heart to bring the blanket in now.
He sure is going to have a toasty warm nest this winter!
By: Tamra Wight,
on 11/12/2007
This past weekend was wonderfully relaxing!
I wrote a little on George . . .
walked a little down by the lake . . .
took all the campground's unsold food to our church's food bank . . .
submitted a Pb to my crit group . . .
walked a little more . . .
helped B with his continent project . . .
took all my kids cast off clothes to the clothing bank at church . . .
went to church . . .
wrote a little more on George . . .
walked a little more!
Here are some sights from my walks this weekend:
This handsome guy was right over my head!!!
Today is another day off from school. So more writing, walking and yard work is on the schedule!
By: Tamra Wight,
on 11/8/2007
This has been a HUGE subbing week! I'm on day 4.
Yesterday, Ben and I had role reversal! He had to stay home sick, while I went to school.
Now I know how he feels.
The minute I got home, he said, "MOM! Mom! It was so cool! Look what I saw while you were working . . . "
He was limping a little, Ben said. Dave thinks he was here scoping out the squirrels and birds under my feeder. They watched him from the back window for quite a while.
Sigh. I miss all the good stuff when I'm working!
By: Scribe Chronicler of Aventar,
on 10/11/2007
“Shannon-sama! Looky! We gots another question from my Jessie’s Letters page!”
“It’s hard work to keep up with all the e-mail.”
“It sure is! This one’s about your book Call of the Huntress. It’s from ‘Sirea’ and they said ‘are we gonna put the whole story of Call of the Huntress online cause they really wanna know what happens next!’”
“We sure are! Call of the Huntress is the third book in the Ajan Warriors Series and it’s the sequel to Palace in the Sky, so we sorta have to continue the story, right?”
“Yeah, ’cause I wanna meet your big magical kitty-kat, cause I’ve never seen a midnight cougar with blue eyes before!”
“Well, I just might be able to arrange that after I get my treasure back and learn my powers as an Ajan Warrior.”
“Arigato Shannon-sama! If you gots a question or a comment or just wanna say “Hi Jessie and Shannon-sama!’ you can send an e-mail to meeeeeeee on my super-neat super-sugoi best on the whoooooole site Jessie’s Letters page. Ja ne minna-san!”
By: Danette Haworth,
on 9/27/2007
Oh, man, I still can’t believe it. I thought it was a sonic boom. You know, you live in Florida you get used to hearing that twin boom, with the space shuttle landing and all, but I didn’t have time to reason it out before I heard the next one. The huge cypress tree I stood by shook; bushes rattled nearby, and squirrels fell off branches all around me. Boom! Another tremor shot up my legs from the ground.
What the . . .
Dinosaur!
I screamed but no sound came out. The camera fell from my hands. The dinosaur waded through the river, craning his neck to and fro. I knew what he was after. I knew what he wanted. And I remembered what Church Lady and Christy Lenzi told me. I grabbed my camera and ran into the muck.
“Right here!” I yelled. I twisted my watch and directed a sun beam into his eyes.
He stopped. Without moving his head, he slid his eye and looked straight at me.
“Yeah, that’s right,” I yelled, thumping my chest. “Grade A Beef! Come on!” I flicked my hand like Keanu Reeves. “Come on!” My heart was almost busting through my chest, but I repeated my mantra: I must enter the animal’s space, and he mine. This was the photo op of a lifetime.
He swooped his neck down and faced me. My heart pounded so hard it was breaking my ribs. The dinosaur smelled like an old aquarium. His nostrils were each as big as boulders. This was it—my final moment. I raised the camera. Then, like a wine connoisseur, he sniffed me, almost ripping the hair off my head.
He swung back up and lumbered through the river. About twenty yards down, he stopped and nibbled off some treetops.
Ah, brontosaurus. I nodded to myself. The friendly vegan. I ran through the trees and fired off this shot before he disappeared.
I’ve been to the local university, the veterinarians, and the science museum. They all think my husband Photoshopped the dinosaur into the picture. “But look at the reflection in the water!” I argued. “Look at the scale!” I tried to convince them to bring equipment and look for footprints in the riverbed, but they said words like mental and loony.
No one believed me. One guy even showed me how he Photoshopped himself into a picture with Lindsay Lohan. But the light in the photo reflected differently on him than on Lindsay. His picture’s obviously a fake.
I’ve been back to the river; everything looks the same. There’s no trace of the dinosaur, no proof that he was ever there. Nothing.
Except for this picture.
By: Scribe Chronicler of Aventar,
on 8/26/2007
“Konnichi-waaaaa minna san! It’s meeee Jessica Hoshi! Today we got a super treat for everyone. This is our first ever article with a video, because my friend Talitha-chan is super smart and can do anything with computers. This is an article that was written by a guest author and they said we could put in on our site. We love big kitties because Shannon-sama has a big kitty named Kishi that is a magical cat. So we got this article about three cheetahs at the San Diego Wild Animal Park. Their names are Majani, Kubali and Karroo! The first two are brother and sister cheetahs. Majani is a Swahili word that means ‘grasslands,’ and Kubali is also a Swahili word that means ‘to accept.’ Swahili is a language that is spoken in Africa, which is where there are lots of cheetahs, but not so many now cause cheetahs are endangered. I’m gonna get Talitha-chan to put links in our Fun Places list about cheetahs so you can get involved and help out just like us! Arigato minna!”
Zero to 60 in 3.4 seconds.
No, it isn’t the latest super car or souped up motorcycle. In fact, these “vehicles” have no metal parts, engines or wheels at all. They have names, though. They are Majani and Kubali, brother and sister cheetahs who reside at the San Diego Zoo and are featured every weekend at the San Diego Wild Animal Park’s Animal Shows.
Majani and Kubali put on speed exhibitions at the new San Diego Wild Animal Park’s “Cheetah Run Safari” where guests line the track and can get an up close, thrilling view of the animals as they dash past, chasing a small mechanical lure at speeds well in excess of 60 miles per hour. Majani, whose name means “grasslands” in Swahili, is the larger brother of Kubali, whose name means “to accept” in Swahili. Majani also holds the distinction of being the largest and heaviest zoo kept cheetah in the country, weighing in at 144 pounds. The largest and heaviest cheetah recorded in the wild was scarcely one pound heavier at 145 pounds.
Because of her size and weight advantage, Kubali is slightly faster than her brother. This may also be due to the fact that, like many big cats, female cheetahs must develop better and more effective hunting skills since they are responsible for catching and providing food for their cubs.
But what is probably most charming about these two magnificent animals at the San Diego Wild Animal Park is the fact they have befriended two dogs from the local San Diego Humane Society. That’s right. Cats and dogs, living together. Clifford is a labrador and Bear is a labrador/chow who were “assigned” to Majani and Kubali respectively, and act as a calming influence on the big cats when they are performing for the public. Like all cats, cheetahs can be somewhat reclusive in unfamiliar situations, but with their companions around, it seems the brother and sister team have an easier time of it during the Cheetah Run Safari shows.
Just for fun, the park staff lets Clifford and Bear out on the track for trial runs before the stars of the show take to the starter’s blocks. While they are probably quite capable runners, as some dogs are, labradors don’t quite compare to the fastest land animal on the planet.
After their runs, the big cats are fed and spectators have an opportunity to listen as their loud purring is heard throughout Cheetah Outpost. The Cheetah Run Safari is available on weekends to spectators and guests by reservation and requires an additional fee which does not include admission to the San Diego Wild Animal Park or Zoo. The program includes refreshments and a 5×7 photograph of one of the cheetahs from the show.
The third “dog and cat” team at the San Diego Zoo and San Diego Wild Animal Park is also a dog and cheetah team like Majani and Clifford or Kubali and Bear. They are Karroo and Sven, a cheetah and golden retriever team that appears in the “Wild Ones” show in the San Diego Wild Animal Park’s “Cat Canyon” area.
Karroo and Sven Olaf are the current caretakers of a historical dog and cheetah tradition at the park’s Cheetah Run and Cat Canyon, signified by a plaque commemorating the original team at Wegeforth Bowl in the park. The original team, consisting of a cheetah named Arusha and a golden retriever named Anna, performed and worked at the park together well into their old ages. Chobe and Jessie followed, and now, the featured dog and cat team of Karroo and Sven continue to thrill and delight audiences at the San Diego Wild Animal Park’s many shows and attractions, including the Zoo’s show at the Hunte Ampitheater.
Cheetahs are a unique species, and are among the most specialized creatures in nature. Their bodies are a wonder of aerodynamics, agility, speed and strength, and there is undoubtedly still much to be learned about the way they hunt and survive in the wild. Cheetahs live considerably longer in captivity than in the wild, and this will hopefully provide more opportunties to help this spectacular big cat overcome some of the challenges that are facing the 12,000 remaining cheetahs in the world, including inbreeding, genetic defects and various viruses and infections that cheetahs are susceptible to.
But in the meantime, there’s no reason that people cannot marvel at the incredible abilities of Majani, Kubali and Karroo at the San Diego Zoo and San Diego Wild Animal Park. There is no better way to learn to appreciate wild animals, their habitat and humanity’s relationship with nature than to see nature’s strength and dignity in person, and that is precisely the opportunity shows like the Cheetah Run Safari and the Wild Ones provide. Endangered species like the cheetah and many others around the world are everyone’s responsibility, and learning more about both endangered species and species with healthy populations is an excellent way for people to develop a more profound understanding of both the world we live in and the challenges we share in preserving the natural world around us.
By: karen lee,
on 8/18/2007
Blissful job for the North Carolina Wildlife Commission 2009 kid's poster contest
Karen Lee http://www.leeillo.com/
By: Pequete,
on 6/18/2007
My work is finally on sale in the web for the first time, in the form of greeting cards! I still have to work on the store's layout and add more cards to it, but I'm so happy that I had to share it here right away! I must thank the talented Emila Yusof for posting about the Greeting Card Universe site and hence letting me know it existed. The picture shows the first card I uploaded to Ana's Card Store. Even if I don't sell a single one, it's great just to look at them there, so neat...
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