Overview: Geraldine Ryan-Lush is the award-winning author of children's books, stories, poetry, short fiction and numerous scholarly articles dealing with the children's literature field. Holding a Bachelor of Arts (Education) degree, with a major in English Language/Literature and a minor in Children's Literature. Her children's titles are in some 800 and counting libraries and library systems in U.S. alone, as well as Germany, Denmark, Sweden, France, Australia, China, Japan, and many other countries. Her titles are part of curriculum in many schools, and form part of children's literature training component in universities and colleges. Her books deal with the experiences of the real child, in a realistic, entertaining way, that teaches, reassures and entertains. Rendered in a breezy, identifiable writing style, her stories of the everyday child invite the child reader in, and inspire him/her to keep reading.

Biography: (In Geraldine's words):

I was born on July 03, 1949, in St. Joseph's, St. Mary's Bay, Newfoundland, Canada. I am third in family of six children. My father was a Dept. of Highways worker, and my mother a former hotel clerk in St. John's during WWII. My father also served in Nfld. Militia for five years. Both their lives proved great story-telling in my childhood! Though only two hours by gravel road to St. John's, there was no library of any way, shape or form in St. Joseph's. I spent my childhood "book-starved," books being an item not found on the shelves of small stores there. My parents' trips to St. John's usually rendered Nancy Drew and Ginny Gordon, along with Hardy Boy books and treasure troves of comics gleaned from cousins in St. John's. My mother had some classics from her childhood, and my three aunts were all teachers in outskirts of St. John's , and exciting it was to peruse their bounty of books and latest fashions when they came home on weekends! I adored "Anne of Green Gables" and "Little Women, "The Five Little Peppers And How They Grew" among favourites. "Anne" we fought over at recess in school, the one glass-doored bookcase sporting only one copy!

I credit my love of reading in those years , in spite of dearth of books, to my parents' vivid story-telling. Their oral tales by lamplight (we didn't get electricity until I was ten), I feel, lit, and fueled the fire in my writer's soul! Transference from oral to printed to written is a natural progression in the literary mind. Our writing projects in school were mainly compositions, for which I had a "bent." In high school I was encouraged to some degree by one teacher who scribbled on my paper that I had "good writing technique but prone to ramble..." Poetry I created in secret. I shyly showed my offerings of poetry to a nun in St. Bride's College who commented on my use of imagery. But I didn't harbor dreams of becoming a writer! It was simply something I enjoyed doing . Authors to me then were larger-than-life people like movie stars. Get published? What a lofty idea. I wouldn't know where to start. Today I envy people like Margaret Atwood and L.M. Montgomery who aspired to their goals since childhood. In the innocent little community I grew up in, such a thing was virtually unheard of! Having said that, I do believe the writing well flows more abundantly when it is has the base of substantial life experience pumping it up and keeping it going. Thus, I am glad I was a late starter!

I attended Memorial University, obtained a B.A. (Ed.). I became a teacher, married, had two wonderful sons. Parenting them was a truly blessed experience, and the genesis of my starting, at the ripe old age of 38, to submit parenting and educational articles for publication. This ultimately led to stories and books and I've never looked back. At this stage, the vacuum of my rural roots which I once saw as somewhat of an impediment, I now see as a true richness and fodder for great things to come. Not everybody has the opportunity to embrace the creative force which stems from the purity and truth of my growing "around the bay!" It's only just begun!

Bibliography:

Early /Middle Readers: Hairs on Bears, Jeremy Jeckles Hates Freckles

Chapterbooks/First Novels: Malcolm The Klutz, Malcolm and The Hamster Lady

Stories (selected): Mr. McGuillicutty's Secret, Kate's Pictures, Miriam Weber Stopped Being Clever, Mrs. Woods' Bread, The Thing About Amadeus, The Listener, many others

Toby Trotter Stories:The Adventures Of Toby Trotter, Toby and The Girl, Toby and The Miser, The Trouting Caper, Along Come The Lannigans, Toby and Bobby

For Adults: Poetry Collection, Once When I Wasn't Looking (New Release March 2007) STORIES: A Dark Room Full Of Light, The Long Bike Ride, White Horses, Joan Crawford and Robert Stack, others

Articles (Selected): Play And The Child's World, A Book A Day...A Great Way To Play, A Real-Life Private Ryan, Parallels And Paradoxes Pepper The Works Of Avonlea Author, Language That Plays...Language That Strays, Environmentally Friendly, Light Adventure For Young Readers, Noteworthy Books For Teen Readers, ''Tween-Age Treats, An Eerie Indian Oral Legend, Playful Ease and Spontaneity In Books, The Light Of Wisdom, many others too numerous to cite.

Upcoming: Young Adult Novel, The Asphalt Rink

Awards, Honours, Worthy of Note:

- American Bookseller's "Pick Of The Lists" Selection

- Merit Magazine Studio Award

- Alcuin Society Design Award

- Nomination: Our Choice, Canadian Children's Book Centre

- Review Pick: School Library Journal, N.Y. Review Pick Selection

- Noteworthy: Ryan-Lush's titles form part of accelerated reading quizzes and practice in educational programs with works of Laura Ingalls Wilder, Margaret Wise Brown, Arnold Lobel, A.A. Milne, Eve Bunting, J.K.Rowling, Beverly Cleary, Rudyard Kipling, Dr. Seuss, Jonathan Swift, Roald Dahl, and many other classic luminaries of children's literature history. A profile of Geraldine Ryan-Lush appeared in an American reference source citated for excellence by American Library Association.

- Works reviewed in many popular and literary sources, including School Library Journal, Canadian Children's Literature, Canadian Materials, Canadian Book Review Annual, Quill & Quire, many others in French and English too numerous to cite

- Broadcasts: Been profiled, read on CBC and other, radio and T.V.

- Lectured: Presented at lectures and conferences in Canada and U.S. Taught workshops and courses in schools, universities and colleges

- Recipient: Awarded various major writing grants for furtherance of work, including Canada Council for the Arts

Lesson Plans, Teacher Guides: Rather than condescending to children, Geraldine Ryan-Lush endeavours to get inside their minds and hearts and speak to them within the realm of their language and experience. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the adventures of the very real and irrepressible Malcolm Kirsten Wall, hero of the popular Malcolm series of "First Novels" for kids in grade 2-5. At an easily handled 60 pages in length, these books are indeed a "novel" experience for this age group.

Energetic and age appropriate, they are uniquely crafted and developed to introduce and incite the child intot the exciting new adventure of reading a whole novel independently. A hallmark of this series is the writing tone and approach, directly from the child's perspective, in breezy, first person "diary-form," that ensures the child is drawn in, and destined to keep reading. Proponents of the series have praised these books as having an "attractive, zippy energy and humour, doing a worthwhile service to young readership." They further describe Ryan-Lush's Malcolm books as "a desire to help make the transition from the picture books of infancy to the novels of young readerhood. They cater to their readership down to the minute details, successfully bridging the gap...for children who are just getting into reading but not ready for the dynamics of a longer novel...avoids overwhelming her young readers with too many characters and sub-plots...scenarios are fitted to age group and are identifiable with their problems...there's an inherent lesson that they learn, but it's all done in an entertaining way..."....Mark Vaugh-Jackson, T.V.Week. "Overall, all my books", Geraldine says, "are based on the premise that the genesis of literacy for young children is teaching, inspiring, shaping and entertaining, in the context of the experiences of the total child."

Can be contacted at: gerlreads@nl.rogers.com