Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Frida Kahlo: Portrait of a Mexican Painter


I was intrigued with Frida Kahlo. The early 20th century was a time of unrest and major social and political change throughout the world. Much like today. So you see there is not much new that is happening today that has not happened before. It does look as if history is repeating itself. Our hope for children of the future is in books with accurate stories. Let’s teach our children to learn from mistakes. This is why writing for educational publishers is so important. It is not filled with glitz and glamor but it is a teaching tool. A writer for children is a teacher who does not enter the classroom but has opportunity to enter a child’s mind nonetheless.

I am interested in writing for educational publishers as many writers are. A good way to find out how to enter this world is to study the market. Writing biographies and historical books for mid grade and young adults is a challenge. A writer must be able to communicate with appropriate age related words. Sentences don’t need to be choppy but they should be short and concise which is a real challenge for a writer who likes to talk without taking a breath. When I was writing college papers, it was not unusual for me to write an entire paragraph with only two sentences.

Is the Educational Market for You?

Are you interested in writing books for the educational market? Evelyn Christensen has wonderful resources. Click Educational Markets for Children’s Writers to go to her list. Feel free to peruse it but do not publish it anywhere else. Her email address is available if you wish to be on her mailing list.

Search out educational publishers on line. Enslow Publishers and Capstone Press are two that are well known. Spend some time there and get a feel for what they need.

Frida Kahlo – Portrait of a Mexican Painter was written by Barbara C. Cruz for Enslow Publishers. Dr. Cruz has published and presented extensively, focusing her research on multicultural and global education and equity issues. Enslow publishes high-quality educational non-fiction books for children from K through 12 grades.

Write it down,
Carma