MSW's Page for Kids

 


My Books for Kids

 

My Parakeet Taxi,
short for Taxicab
(because he is yellow and so are a lot of taxis!)

 

Parakeets are my favorite pet! Here are some
flying parakeets (really called budgeriegars or budgies)

 

New!

Magazines that publish work by children and teens

 

Ivy from the Junior Writing Workshop recommends
this website for writing ideas as well as editing tools.

 

 

Special Welcome to:

 

Third and Second Graders at Heywood Avenue School
in Orange, New Jersey!

Third and Fourth Graders from the Unity Charter School
in Morristown, New Jersey

Reporters from the Tuscan TigerTimes, Tuscan School,
Maplewood-South Orange, New Jersey

Sixth Graders from
East Hanover Middle School,
East Hanover, New Jersey

The South Mountain Monkeys Book Club
of South Orange and Maplewood, New Jersey!

Fourth Graders at Hilltop Elementary School
Mendham, New Jersey

Fourth Graders at
Pines Lake School in Wayne, New Jersey

Fourth Graders at
Aaron Decker School in Butler, New Jersey

Sixth Grade Scholars at the
Summit Academy Charter School
in Red Hook, Brooklyn, New York!

Second and Third Graders from
Hazelwood Elementary School
Middlesex, New Jersey!

 

 

Dear Visitor,
     This page is about books and writing and kids. If you want to read a short biography of me, click here.
     If you are looking for writing ideas, try these. There are also pictures of my parakeet and my books. To read a free sample from one of the books, click on Big City Lit.
     There is a list of places that publish writing by kids.
     What would you like to see on my writer's page? If you have a suggestion, please email me at: Meredith Sue Willis.
      Thanks for visiting!
                                                           Meredith Sue Willlis

Blazing Pencils-- How to Write Book for Kids!

 

Check out MakeBeliefsComix.com

 

I was Interviewed by Fourth Grade Students at Tuscan Elementary School
in Maplewood, New Jersey! Click here to read the interview. They also
recommended some books you might like.

 

Writing Ideas for Kids

Pet tubes-- Pet Videos!

Stone Soup: Stories, poems, and art by kids.
You can submit your writing to them too!

This is a picture of me visiting a school and looking very serious! (You won't see pictures of children on this web site because you have to get special permission to put pictures of children on the Internet).

Click here to send me mail!

 

 

When I was about ten, I used to look at the pictures
in a book my family had. They scared me to death!
This is one of them. Could you write something
about what you think is going on in this picture?

(By the way, the picture is from a book called Jane Eyre, and the picture is by a man called Friz Eichenberg. He made the pictures by carving them in wood. Then he dipped the carvings in ink, then printed them.)
 

 

This is my old parakeet, Charley Brown.
She was blue, not brown. She's not outside. She was in front of a big window. She lived for nine years, and I still miss her.

 

 



Here are more pictures of Taxi. You can tell he's a boy because the part just above his beak (the CERE) is bright blue. He can say, "Taxi!" and "Pretty Boy" and "Que Pasa?" which is Spanish for "What's up?" And he can say "What's up, Doc?" too. He likes music and shiny things like keys.

 

 

Book List from Tuscan Tiger Times reporters (Tuscan School, Maplewood, NJ)

Here are books popular with all the Fourth Graders at Tuscan School

Child, Lauren. Clarice Bean Spells Trouble
Myers, Edward. Climb or Die.
Spinelli, Jerry. Fourth Grade Rats.
Giff, Patricia Reilly. Lily's Crossing.
Avi. Who Stole the Wizard of Oz.

Here are some more favorites of the Tuscan Tiger Times reporters:

Blume, Judy. Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing; Super Fudge; Double Fudge.
Dami, Elisabetta. Geronimo Stilton books.
Kinney, Jeff. Diary of a Wimpy Kid series.
MacLachlan, Patricia. Sarah Plain and Tall.
Riordan, Rick.   Percy Jackson & the Olympians books.

 

 

My Books for Kids

Billie is a girl whose mother is white, and her father is black. In the story, she meets her white cousin for the first time. If you'd like to read the first chapter, click on the book cover.

 

 

The Secret Super Powers of Marco is my first book about Marco. In this one, he moves to a new apartment and a new school and has a lot of trouble with a bully. He gets a dog, though, and his sister runs away. If you want more information about the book, click on the cover.

 

Marco's Monster is the second book about Marco. In this one, he and his friends do a play about monsters. This is the one with a sample you can read by clicking here. If you want more information about the book, click on the cover.

 

 

Blazing Pencils is a book of writing ideas. It is for kids, and it gives ideas for writing fiction and nonfiction. If you want more information about the book, click on the cover.

 

 

Web Sites Especially for Kids

Ivy from the Junior Writing Workshop recommends this website for writing ideas as well as editing tools.

Chickensmoothie.com-- a web page for getting free virtual pets!

 National Writing month for Kids

Contests for young writers: http://www.youngvoicesfoundation.org/

A site where kids can make their own Comix!

Here's a site with math puzzles

http://www.kidsonthenet.com

Kids' Garden of Song

http://www.zuzu.org/courage.html

For student writers (mostly older)



 

 

Places that Publish Writing by Kids

 

826 NYC Review. This magazine is special for students ages 6-18 from the five boroughs of New York. To submit, send an email to Ted, subject “Submission,” or mail your work to: The 826 NYC Review, 372 5th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11215. Their website is http://www.826nyc.org/ . When you get there, click on "Writing Gallery."

Action. 901 College Ave., Winona Lake, ID 46590. For children 9 through 11.

Bookworm Magazine   Bookworm is a magazine by and for kids. It was started by Sophie McKibben when she was 11 and wanted wanted to give kids a place to have their writing and art published and shared. It is especially for 12-15 year-olds, but will accept things from ages 8-16. Bookworm has published kids from all over the United States, as well as from a number of foreign countries.  If you have something you'd like to submit to Bookworm, you can send it by email to: bookworm.mag@gmail.com or by regular mail to: Bookworm Magazine, P.O. Box 167,Ripton, VT  05766.

Child Life. 1100 Waterway Blvd., Box 567B, Indianapolis, IN 46206. For kids to 14. Science fiction and mystery magazine for students.

Co-Ed. 50 West 44th St., New York, NY 10036 Accepts poetry but wants a statement from the young poet and the teacher, on school stationery, telling them the writing is original. This is a common requirement.

Creative Kids. P.O. Box 6448, Mobile, AL 36660. For kids 5 through 15. Accepts a wide variety of writing and artwork.

Cricket. P.O. Box 100, La Salle, IL 61301. For kids 6 through 13. Poetry, stories, and drawings accepted.

Dash. Box 150, Wheaton, IL 60189. For kids 8 through 11.

Discoveries. 6401 The Paseo, Kansas City, MO 64131. For kids 8 through 12.

Ebony Jr! 820 South Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60605. For kids 6 through 12.

The Friend. 50 East North Temple, Salt Lake City, UT 84150. For kids through 12.

Highlights for Children. 803 Church St., Honesdale, PA 18431. For kids through 12. Accepts a wide variety of writing and black and white art.

Jack and Jill. 1100 Waterway Blvd., Indianapolis, IN 46206. For kids 7 through 10. Letters, poetry, stories, art, photos.

Kids Magazine. P.O. Box 3041, Grand Central Station, New York, NY 10017. For kids 5 through 15. Accepts all kinds of student work.

Merlyn's Pen. P.O. Box 716, East Greenwich, RI 02818. For grades 7 through 10. Accepts all kinds of writing.

National Council of Teachers of English. 1111 Kenyon Rd., Urbana, IL 61801. If you are not already aware of the 8th grade and 11th grade writing competitions sponsored by NCTE, write them and find out. By the way, the English Journal at this same address accepts poetry from teachers.

On the Line. 616 Walnut Ave., Scottdale, PA 15683. For kids 10 through 14.

R-A-D-A-R. 8121 Hamilton Ave., Cincinnati, OH 45231. For kids 8 through 11.

Read. Xerox Education Publications, 245 Long Hill Rd., Middletown, Grades 7 through 9. Runs students' jokes and poems often. Has a special feature for student writing each year.

Scholastic, 50 West 44th St., New York, NY 10036. Scholastic publishes Scholastic Scope and Scholastic Voice magazines for students. Both accept student writing. They also sponsor the annual Scholastic Writing Awards Program for grades 7, 8, and 9. See their Kids' page at /http://www.scholastic.com/kids/

Seventeen. 850 3rd Ave., New York, NY 10022. For girls 12 through 18. Hard to get into. Try the "Free-for-AII" column.

Stone Soup: Stories, poems, and art by kids.   Learn how to submit your writing to them.

Touch. P.O. Box 7244, Grand Rapids, MI 49510. For kids 8 through 15.

Trails, Pioneer Girls, Inc. Box 788, Wheaton, IL60187. For kids 6 through 12.

Wee Wisdom. Unity Village, MO 64065. To 13. Poetry and short stories.

Young Miss. 685 3rd Ave., New York, NY 10017 Poetry and opinions accepted.

 

 

 

Writing Ideas: Some Things to Try

      • Write a conversation between a parakeet and a cardinal outside the window.

      • Be a writing spy: take a small notebook to a mall or restaurant or park. Make yourself very quiet and just listen to what people say. Then write it down.

      • Can you make up more to the conversation? Imagine what the people say next.

      • With a friend, have a silent (written) conversation.
        I write my sentence, then pass the notebook to you.
        You write, and pass it back.

      • Do the silent conversation with your friend again, but this time, tell lies!

      • Take a walk by yourself or with one friend. Take your small notebook. Write down a list of things you see.

      • When you go home, write a story using all the things.

      • Check out National Novel Writing Month for kds.

       

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Biography of Meredith Sue Willis

Meredith Sue Willis grew up in the mountains in a tiny town in West Virginia, then went to college and lived for a long time in New York City. Next she moved to New Jersey, where she still lives with her husband and her parakeet, Taxicab. Her son Joel and daughter-in-law Sarah are graduate students in Berkeley California.  MSW has written 16 books, mostly for adults, but her books for children include a book about writing called Blazing Pencils plus three chapter books:  The Secret Super Powers of Marco; Marco's Monster; and Billie of Fish House Lane. 

 

If you want to send me an email, click here!

 

 

Thank You for Visiting!

-Meredith Sue Willis