The Ghost of Lizard's Rock

Writing The Ghost Of Lizard's Rock

Shona Anderson and I first began writing in 2011 a new book series called the ‘Cow Pie Gang’. As leaders in education & bully prevention in our home countries of the United States and Canada, we recognized the need for books written for tweens (ages 11-14) and the issues confronting them in the 21^st century such as growing up, developing friendships, bullying, death, divorce, and so much more. Four books later, the ‘Cow Pie Gang’ series has been adopted for use in thousands of classrooms in the United States, Canada, and five other countries. This is the series parents want their children to read or hear.

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THE BOOK OF KATI - VOLUME 3 - SECRETS

SECRETS Sshh, can you keep a secret? Should you keep a secret? Life in Tiny continues to be full of adventures for the Cow Pie Gang and the Fair November brings the whole town to life. The trials and tribulations of tween life continues with first dates and first break ups. When Kati uncovers a huge secret, she is torn and doesn't know if she should tell or not. After a week of turmoil and soul searching she finds out that some secrets aren't meant to be kept while other secrets reveal delightful surprises. 5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful series Reviewed in the United States on January 25, 2018 Love the characters in this series. They are strong, true to life middle schoolers growing up in a small town. The adults in their lives are hands on without being too intrusive. I really like how the author portrays the thought processes the kids go through trying to understand their own issues and those of the people around them.

Teaching Youth to Think

I recently had the opportunity to observe a 10-year-old boy learning to code a basic computer program. For those of us computer challenged, coding is the programming language that designs software, apps, computer games, and even websites such as mine. Is this a lesson for gifted children? Actually not! Everyone can learn the basics of programming in this day and age - we just need to learn how to think ! The first step in this boy's learning was to teach him basic vocabulary, facts, and rules. This was his foundation to coding. A designed activity followed to engaged the boy in demonstrating that he really understood the foundation. (Note: There were no time restraints on this child's learning. Why must we rush our kids?) And then... wonderful things began happening! The boy looked at the entire foundation and began systematically analyzing it . He examined carefully all the parts and how they related to each othe...

TELL US MORE ABOUT YOU

I was at a community author talk not too long ago for aspiring authors, when a young lady in the middle of the room raised her hand, "Would you tell us more about your background? What were the influences or experiences in your life that led to your writing?" I smiled at the request, looked down at my feet for a brief moment, and nodded my head in silence. "So many," I answered, "so very many!" I was born in a small rural community in the Pacific Northwest. Our small one-bedroom home was situated just a stone's throw from the banks of the Snake River. Being an only child, I slept in the basement next to the warm coal furnace. During our freezing winters, this was an ideal place to have bed. It was at this time, my mother took me to the library for the very first time. I stared at the rows of books in disbelief and excitement. My very first picture book book was one about dinosaurs. This love of books would later include Mark Twain's cha...

J Richard Knapp

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