Workshops for Children's Writers and Illustrators
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This workshop is co-sponsored by the Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History.
  Workshop Description Back to Founders Workshop Main Page
 

Date: April 21– 25, 2010
Arrive Wednesday, April 21, at 6 PM for dinner. An optional tour of HIGHLIGHTS FOR CHILDREN® and Boyds Mills Press is available for early arrivals.
Depart Sunday, April 25, after breakfast.

Designed For: Nature writers wanting to get out in the field, sharpen their skills in observation and writing, and receive expert critiques from publishing professionals.

Maximum Capacity: 15 participants

  
 

Sharing your sense of wonder about nature with children takes special skills. It takes an alert mind, a keen sense of observation, and a passionate heart to translate nature’s language into words that come alive on a page.

  • Guided field trips with seasoned naturalists
    Immerse yourself in a pristine natural environment.
  • Instruction on keeping a field journal
    One of the foremost nature journaling teachers will show you how to use notes from the field to enliven your nature writing. (Journals will be provided.)
  • Techniques to sharpen your powers of observation
    Learn how to see—then write about—nature with a trained eye.
  • Critique of your written work
    Get feedback from professionals on how to improve your writing.
    (Participants are encouraged to send a complete manuscript or work-in-progress before the conference begins, preferably by March 30, 2010. Optional daily writing assignments may be completed in longhand.)
  • One-on-one opportunities with children’s publishing experts
    Get the inside scoop on the world of children’s publishing from editors and nature writers in the know.

Workshop Fee of $895 includes cozy, individual cabins; all meals (provided by a top-notch chef); airport pickup service, if needed; and an intimate teaching setting in the living room of the Founders of Highlights for Children!

"I could walk into a forest and describe with great detail the sights, smells, sounds, etc . . . but I had no idea what I was missing, 'til now."--Donna H. Bowman


  
General Workshop Information Request an Application for this Workshop
  Workshop Leader


Mark Baldwin

 Mark Baldwin
Principal author of the Natural History Atlas to the Chautauqua-Allegheny Region, Mark has
devoted the past sixteen years to the development of nature education programs for the Roger
Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History. As director of education, Mark works with teachers
throughout the country to infuse nature studies into their curricula. He is president of the
Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy and vice president of the American Nature Study Society.
  Guest Faculty

Andy Boyles		 Andy Boyles (Workshop Facilitator)
A lifelong interest in science led Andy to his position as science editor at Highlights for Children and Boyds Mills Press. From dinosaur fossils and rain forests of Madagascar to environments closer to
home, Andy’s encounters with the natural world and those who study it are recorded in countless
interviews and articles. A member of the National Association of Science Writers, he has received
numerous writing and editing awards.

Paul Kowalczyk		 Paul Kowalczyk
Paul is a longtime forester with deep firsthand knowledge of the Pennsylvania woods. As
manager of the forest surrounding Boyds Mills House, he directs efforts to maintain the forest as
a healthy habitat for wildlife as well as a source of timber.

Solon Morse		 Solon Morse
Solon is an ecologist, illustrator, and Web-programmer on the staff of the Roger Tory Peterson Institute. His primary interests lie in community ecology, conservation, and education. He has participated in a number of large-scale research projects in the Midwest, which examined the impacts of forest management on migratory birds and other wildlife. Currently he teaches several courses for the Peterson Institute and—with John Wiessinger—is developing the Electronic Naturalist, an online nature education resource.

Wendy Townsend		 Wendy Townsend
Wendy is a graduate of the Vermont College MFA Program in Writing for Children and Young Adults. She is a lifelong lover of nature, especially reptiles and amphibians. For more than forty years, she has shared her home with iguanas. She has coauthored a biology and husbandry book and has written many articles about these lizards. Lizard Love, published by Front Street, is her first novel. The Sundown Rule will be published by namelos in 2010, and she is currently at work on a novel about the blue iguana murders that took place on Grand Cayman Island in 2008.

Doug Wechsler		 Doug Wechsler
Doug is a wildlife biologist and photographer who takes his inspiration from forests, swamps, and seashores as well as his own backyard. By showing the wonders of nature and its humorous side, he hopes to motivate his readers to deepen their interest in their natural surroundings. His latest books are Marvels in the Muck: Life in the Salt Marshes and Frog Heaven: Ecology of a Vernal Pool. His photographs have appeared in hundreds of publications, including Audubon Magazine, National Wildlife, and Smithsonian Magazine. Doug works at the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia.