Robyn Hood Black

Pre-spring's first rumble of thunder today calls me to make good on my promise to share great books in my blog this year.

A perfect first "share" is SHARING THE SEASONS, a glorious hot-off-the-press collection by renowned poet/anthologist Lee Bennet Hopkins, illustrated by Caldecott madalist David Diaz (Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2010). (more…)

Happy March!

Still feels like winter, but the sun is out and most of the snow has melted away. I drove through a mini-blizzard (OK, Georgia-style) to visit with the great kids at Cleveland Road Elementary School in Bogart, Ga., on Tuesday. First time I've been presenting at a school when it closed early! No, the kids weren't excited or anything....

Our SCBWI Southern Breeze Springmingle was a big success, with the highest attendance ever. (more…)

Huge thanks to Cumming Elementary School third graders for being such a lively group of readers and writers last week. The grown-ups were just as enthusiastic! What a wonderful day with you all.

This weekend, I'll be mingling with fellow Southern Breezers at our big SCBWI regional spring conference, Springmingle, in Atlanta! I'm looking forward to being a volunteer in the audience this year. Here's hoping keynote speaker Jane Yolen and our great editors and agent can get through any snow tomorrow.

I look forward to spending a day at Cleveland Road Elementary School next week. We're going to "unleash" our creativity! Awrroooooo....

Happy Valentine's Day weekend... I hope you get to spend it with the ones you love. And I hope you spend it with books you love, too - As this year goes on, I'll attempt to highlight some books and authors I love in my blog.

I also LOVE spending time with young readers and writers at schools, and I look forward to meeting everyone at Cumming Elementary and Cleveland Road Elementary here in Georgia very soon!

Greetings in this new year! If you are a children's writer or illustrator living in or near Georgia and are looking to jumpstart your work - and you could use some unbeatable networking and camraderie - check out the upcoming SCBWI Southern Breeze Springmingle conference in Atlanta, Feb. 26 - 28. This year's keynote speaker is Jane Yolen. (more…)

Thanks for stopping by! I'm grateful to look back on a very busy 2009 and look forward to writing, drawing, speaking, and meeting up with other children's book folks in 2010.

I'm hunkering down in January with my novel, so apologies for scant blog posts, but I'll come up for air every so often.

Wishing you and yours a productive, inspiring, happy new year!

Are you finished with your holiday shopping? Or yet to begin?

In this crazy, frenzied time of year, there's a simple way you can do something positive for the world, and it won't cost you a penny. Under the links to the right, you'll find one to The Literacy Site, which is connected to these other great sites: The Hunger Site, Breast Cancer Site, Child Health Site, Animal Rescue Site, and Rainforest Site. Conscientious advertisers pay for space on these webpages, and you "donate" all kinds of wonderful things just by visiting and clicking.

Now, if you want to give a little more, take time to browse the "shops" for each site. They offer some terrific items which make fun gifts - that's where I've done a good bit of my shopping this year! Happy clicking.

Mostly, I'm thankful that I have the "usuals" to be thankful for, but not taken for granted - a wonderful family, health, home, food, shelter, work, freedom. I'm thankful to have grown up in a family that, while full of challenges, encouraged creativity and time spent together. (more…)

Hugs and howls to the creative young readers and writers at The Paideia School in Atlanta. I had the privilege of spending time with the elementary school students Friday during presentations and a writing workshop.

We talked about all things wolf - and such great questions! Thanks for your enthusiasm as I got to share one of my greatest passions. (more…)

I have the amazing privilege of volunteering at the Chestatee Wildlife Preserve in Dahlonega, Ga., - http://www.chestateewildlife.com - with Juno and Luna, the wolves whose pictures you see here and there on my website. At a year-and-a-half old now, they are magnificent creatures.

When I visit them, we generally work on manners (socialization), and I also enjoy observing their antics. Today they were particularly playful. (more…)