Patricia Nikolina Clark loves writing for children. And she has done so for the past 25 years, with a focus on short stories and articles for the children’s magazines.
Several years ago, a fellow writer in her Wenatchee Valley Writers Group commented that almost everything Clark wrote had a bird in it somewhere. An enthusiastic birder, Clark happily recognized the truth of that comment. For years she had been subconsciously blending two of her passions: children and birding.
Clark’s first published rebus, “Paula and the Chickadee” (Ladybug, May 1997), grew out of a personal experience with that tiny bird in her front yard. Later, her fascination with bird behavior prompted her to write “Ants in Their Pants” (Spider, September 2009) about the way some birds crouch over ant hills and let ants crawl through their feathers--called “anting.” This article won the SCBWI “Magazine Merit Award” for nonfiction in 2010. One of her earlier biographies, “Mr. Pilling’s Pond” (Highlights, February 1997), about rare ducks, has been reprinted many times in other publications.
It won’t surprise you, then, to find a bird in the cover illustrations of each of Clark’s books! A canary for Fisherman’s Daughter, a crow flying In the Shadow of the Mammoth, and a Canada goose pictured on Goodbye, Goose.
Moreover, the birds play significant roles in each story.
Clark is a long-time member of the Pacific Northwest Writers Assoc. (PNWA), the Society of Children's Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) and a co-founder of the Wenatchee Valley Writers Group. She lives in Washington State with her husband and family in the tiny community of Plain. She is currently working on an article about the intelligence of crows.
Happy reading...and happy birding!
Several years ago, a fellow writer in her Wenatchee Valley Writers Group commented that almost everything Clark wrote had a bird in it somewhere. An enthusiastic birder, Clark happily recognized the truth of that comment. For years she had been subconsciously blending two of her passions: children and birding.
Clark’s first published rebus, “Paula and the Chickadee” (Ladybug, May 1997), grew out of a personal experience with that tiny bird in her front yard. Later, her fascination with bird behavior prompted her to write “Ants in Their Pants” (Spider, September 2009) about the way some birds crouch over ant hills and let ants crawl through their feathers--called “anting.” This article won the SCBWI “Magazine Merit Award” for nonfiction in 2010. One of her earlier biographies, “Mr. Pilling’s Pond” (Highlights, February 1997), about rare ducks, has been reprinted many times in other publications.
It won’t surprise you, then, to find a bird in the cover illustrations of each of Clark’s books! A canary for Fisherman’s Daughter, a crow flying In the Shadow of the Mammoth, and a Canada goose pictured on Goodbye, Goose.
Moreover, the birds play significant roles in each story.
Clark is a long-time member of the Pacific Northwest Writers Assoc. (PNWA), the Society of Children's Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) and a co-founder of the Wenatchee Valley Writers Group. She lives in Washington State with her husband and family in the tiny community of Plain. She is currently working on an article about the intelligence of crows.
Happy reading...and happy birding!
