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Tag Archives: Chinese New Year Dumplings

Benson Shum–What Was on His . . .
Guest Feature

Benson Shum–What Was on His . . .

Posted on February 8, 2021 by sandranickel • 6 Comments

To help us celebrate Chinese New Year, the wonderful writer-illustrator-animator Benson Shum joins us with his most recent creation, Alex’s Good Fortune! Continue reading →

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what was on…

A blog about the writers and illustrators of children's and young adult literature. Here, we get to the heart of their work and lives by asking What Was on Their . . . minds, desks, play lists, refrigerators, and more.

Sandra Nickel

Sandra Nickel Author (3x4)

Sandra Nickel writes books and poetry for young readers. In 2020 and 2021, she has three books coming out: Nacho’s Nachos: The Story Behind the World’s Favorite Snack (Lee & Low), The Stuff Between the Stars: How Vera Rubin Discovered Most of the Universe (Abrams), and Breaking Through the Clouds: The Sometimes Turbulent Life of Meteorologist Joanne Simpson (Abrams). Sandra’s poetry can be found in SCOOP magazine. Sandra holds an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts and has presented workshops on writing for children and young adults throughout Europe and the United States. Sandra is a two-time winner of the Katherine Paterson Prize for picture books and a finalist for the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators Golden Kite Award.

Please visit Sandra’s website at sandranickel.com

Sandra is represented by Victoria Wells Arms of the Wells Arms Literary Agency.

★ The Stuff Between the Stars ★

TheStuffBetweenTheStars
My beautiful book The Stuff Between the Stars is out! I can hardly believe it. I hope you all fall in love with the most amazing Vera Rubin. Her discoveries revolutionized modern astronomy. In the words of the New York Times, they ushered in a “Copernican-scale change in cosmic consciousness.” She was also a mentor for an entire generation of female scientists. So, lift your glass, tea cup, coffee mug, whatever you’re holding. Here’s to the generous and trailblazing Vera Rubin! ✨
Here’s also to Aimee Sicuro, the wonderful illustrator of The Stuff Between the Stars. If you don’t know her work yet, I know you’ll be delighted to discover her.✨
A truly beautiful story of perseverance and passion —BOOKLIST

★ GOLDEN KITE AWARD FINALIST ★

Nacho's Nachos by Sandra Nickel and Oliver Dominguez Cover

Nacho’s Nachos: The Story Behind the World’s Favorite Snack was named a Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators Golden Kite Award Finalist!

Poetry . . .

‘The Sun Has a Secret,’ my poem about the sun falling for the moon, is in SCOOP’s 1st anniversary issue. If you haven’t yet picked up an issue of SCOOP, do. It’s a brilliant children’s magazine that counts among its contributors Neil Gaiman, Sir Tom Stoppard, Herbie Brennan, and Jacqueline Wilson.

Antagonists . . .

I started thinking about antagonists when I was working on my MFA at Vermont College of Fine Arts. It wasn’t too long before I came to the conclusion that antagonists—yes, antagonists plural—were at the core of the very best stories. In fact, as I examined my favorite stories more closely, I realized that there are 13 Antagonist Archetypes, each capable of producing different reactions in the protagonist and reader. This realization turned into a presentation I gave in Amsterdam, morphed into a three-hour workshop I gave in Switzerland, and then was condensed into a breakout session for the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrator’s Annual Summer Conference in Los Angeles. For those of you who missed it, you can find it here: Enter the Antagonist–no scratch that–Enter the Antagonists, Plural.

THE PARIS REVIEW . . .

The Paris Review celebrated James Fenimore Cooper’s birthday by picking up and republishing portions of my April 30, 2014 blog–The Voracious Child Readers of Russia. If you would like to read the Paris Review’s Natty Bumppo, Soviet Folk Hero (September 15, 2014), click below.

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