Guest Post by Mary Amato In my latest book, Our Teacher is a Vampire and Other (Not) True Stories , the kids in Mrs. Penrose’s classroo...

by Mary Amato Have you ever read a novel in which the character talks about his or her favorite food? Or perhaps the emotional climax o...

by Mary Amato Writing a letter to an author is a wonderful way for a child to connect. What you want, though, is for the child to recei...

by Mary Amato Young reluctant writers are often turned off or afraid of the blank page. I made up an imagination game involving Post-...

by Mary Amato A frequent question kids ask me is: how do you come up with your character names? I have fun with symbolism, metaphor, an...

by Mary Amato Writing a mystery can be a challenge for a professional writer, let alone a beginner. Not only do you have to write a s...

by Mary Amato Keeping a mini diary is a fun way to encourage both writing and research. Share Cronin and Bliss’s funny picture books, Dia...

by Mary Amato I'll piggyback on Joan Waites' Snowy Day post and share a holiday season idea that I adapted from poet/teache...

by Mary Amato One of my most popular creative writing exercises is very simple. Choose two inanimate objects and imagine they are havin...

by Mary Amato What makes you thrum? After my sister read my latest book, Guitar Notes , she told me how crucial it is to ask yourself: ...

by Mary Amato When I was in the eighth grade, my teacher Mr. McCauley brought in a record: Paul Simon's “I am a Rock.” He played ...

by Mary Amato Fiction writers have the fun of creating an entire world. Teachers and parents can encourage kids to use cheap materials lik...

by Mary Amato   You know the look. A student who is supposed to be writing is staring at the blank page. You can almost smell the panic...

by Mary Amato When introducing a character, many writers begin and end with a list of the physical traits of the character: eye or hair col...

by Mary Amato  Illustration by Max Amato  One of the greatest teaching tools and gifts that you can give a student is to share mistak...