| PROFILE | BOOKS | LINKS |
David Harrison
Most mornings I am eager to get started on the manuscript of the moment. The work is hard and takes time, but when that package arrives at last with a sample of your new book, you forget everything else.
Writers for young people are invited to speak at schools and literature festivals. Students always ask: "How did you get started?" "Where do you get your ideas?" "How long does it take to write a book?" "How old are you?" They rarely ask: "Why should we learn to write?" And I have answers! Writing helps us to focus on what we want to say. It clarifies our thinking and teaches us to arrange our thoughts in logical order. We choose words more carefully for the reader's sake. Besides, I love doing it. Writing gives our imagination permission to play. Kids seem surprised that after all these years I can still say that I love to write, and mean it. Writing can be, and should be, fun. Recreational writing, like recreational reading, is the best way to begin.
My work has received awards for poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. Titles include books about teaching poetry and writing stories. I've had more than 70 books published. I live in Springfield, Missouri with my wife Sandy. We have two grown children, Robin and Jeff, and two grandsons, Kris and Tyler. I consider myself lucky to be a writer.
 DUDE!Stories and Stuff for Boys Ages 8 -12 Growing up is tough, but the guys in this collection are equal to the job! Poets, playwrights, and storytellers from Jaime Adoff to Jose Gonzalez to Sneed Collard III offer tales fanciful and true, all for and about boys - but girls are welcome to read them, too! |
 GLACIERSNature?s Icy Caps Ages 6-8 This is the final title in my Earthworks series -- nonfiction Earth science books written in simple language that School Library Journal called, " . . . clear, poetic prose." Other titles are Caves, Rivers, Volcanoes, Oceans, Earthquakes, and Mountains. This book introduces glaciers, how they form, and how they fit into the cycles of nature. |
 SOUNDS OF RAINPoems of the Amazon Ages 10-14 My 9th book of poetry was inspired by a trip up the Amazon and beyond its headwaters deep into the Peruvian rain forest. My education as a biologist plus a lifelong dream to visit the Amazon made this an experience I'll never forget. A photographer on the same trip provided delightful pictures. |
 EASY POETRY LESSONS THAT DAZZLE AND DELIGHTCo-written with Bernice E. Cullinan, past president of International Reading Association, this Teaching Strategies book provides 50 reproducible poems and activities that inspire children to read, write, and love poetry. Poems by professional poets illustrate each strategy. A full glossary and poetry booklists are included. |
 WRITING STORIES
Fantastic Fiction from Start to Finish Age 10 and up This Scholastic Guide presents twenty-five “secrets of writing” to help young writers spin their own tales. Among the topics: idea, beginning, character, situation, problem, action, dialogue, solution, ending, revising, and rewriting. Lots of examples and entertaining exercises. I also suggest how to find time to write.
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