About Shirley

I taught science and ESL in elementary, middle school, and high school for twenty-five years and then began to write  for children. I started with eight nonfiction articles for Latingirl magazine. My first trade book, No Bows! (Peachtree), came out in 2006. Since then I’ve written eight other work-for-hire books, fairy tales for a website enterprise, and nine teacher guides for Peachtree nonfiction. The most recent guide is for  their series About Habitats.

My YA high-interest horror book, Unthinkable, was a 2011 Quick Pick for Young Adult Reluctant Readers (Darby Creek/Lerner). My first science books, You Can’t Wear These Genes and Infection, Infestations, and Diseases, are available from  Rourke.  I also did a ghostwriting  picture book about animals.

Enterprise STEM, Forces and Motion at Work, and Environmental Disasters (Rourke) are out now. I have a new book from Cherry Lake Publishing titled Gases. It’s in their Science Lab series, which combines science problem solving with reading. I also wrote two science books for The Child’s World. They are Step by Step Experiments with Plants and Step by Step Experiments with the Water Cycle. Both books are illustrated by Bob Ostrum.

My recent books include three science books for Rourke and two math books, also for Rourke. I’m also excited to be doing science content editing this year, too.

I guest blogged on NOVA’s “Secret Life of Scientists” web series last season. It’s an exciting, award winning series and I was delighted to be a contributor to their blog.

2011 ALA in New Orleans went well and was well-received. Our panel, chaired by Anastasia Suen, spoke about our recent nonfiction writing. You can see the handouts and my slides on the ALA page of my blog. Anastasia is chairing the panel next year at ALA and has some terrific panelists lined up already.

I’ve spoken at  schools, TLA, TSRA, ALA, NAEYC, universities, libraries, and book fairs and festivals. Visit my website at www.shirleysmithduke.com to see more about me. It’s recently updated.  I also do a few library and school visits.

I love science and it can be simple. Using children’s books, I’ll give you some practical ideas or suggestions you can use in your classroom, library, or with your children.

I plan to continue blogging once a week, mostly so I can keep up with my writing and other projects. I’ll keep a reminder going on Nonfiction Monday and post on Wednesday of each week. I’ll use new books and a few older ones, and I plan to range from kindergarten age to fifth grade on the activities. However, I occasionally hit the middle school range, too, because there are so many great science books.

I hope you’ll check in weekly and see if there is something you can use or to see some current books and activities.  I’d love to hear from you if you use an idea. Let me know how it worked.

My  webmaster is Aimee Suen. Yes, she’s also the daughter of Anastasia Suen.

My recent photo is by Cherie Callaway, who managed to capture both my spirit and the  little bit of messiness that is part of me.