Monica Kulling

Monica has published over 30 books for children, including picture books, adaptations of classic novels, movie tie-ins, and biographies. Known for introducing biography to young children, Monica has written about, among others, Harriet Tubman, Houdini, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Amelia Earhart. Monica also writes poetry, and has taught poetry workshops to grades 4 and 5. Her poetry is published in many anthologies.

Published Works

Fiction

Merci Mister Dash! Tundra Books, 2011

Go, Stitch, Go! Random House/New York, 2002

Star Wars: Queen in Disguise, Random House/NY, 2000

Edgar Badger’s Butterfly Day, Mondo Publishing/NY, 1999

Edgar Badger’s Fishing Day, Mondo Publishing/NY, 1999

The Body Snatcher (Adaptation)
Random House/New York, 1998

Edgar Badger's Balloon Day, Mondo Publishing/New York, 1997

Edgar Badger’s Fix-It Day, Mondo Publishing/New York, 1997

Fairy Tale: A True Story (Movie Book)
Random House/NY, 1997

Fairy Tale: A True Story (Novel) Random House/NY, 1997

Great Expectations (Adaptation) Random House/New York, 1996

Adventures of Tom Sawyer (Adaptation) Random House/NY, 1995

Les Misérables (Adaptation) random House/New York, 1995

Little Women (Adaptation) Random House/New York, 1994

Waiting for Amos UK: ABC Books/US: Bradbury Press, 1993

I Hate You, Marmalade!
UK: ABC Books/US: Viking, 1992




Non-fiction

Going Up! Elisha Otis's Trip To the Top, Tundra Books, 2012

In the Bag! Margaret Knight Wraps It Up, Tundra Books, 2011

All Aboard! Elijah McCoy's Steam Engine, Tundra Books, 2010

It's A Snap! George Eastman's First Photograph, Tundra Books, 2009

Listen Up! Alexander Graham Bell’s Talking Machine, Random House/NY, 2007

Eat My Dust! Henry Ford's First Race Random House/NY, 2004

HORSES (Shape Book) Random House/New York, 2001

Escape North! The Story of Harriet Tubman, 
Random House/New York, 2000

Life In the Wild: Elephants 
Random House/New York, 2000

Sea Of Ice: The Wreck of the Endurance, Random House/NY, 1999

Eleanor Everywhere: The Life of Eleanor Roosevelt, 
Random House/New York, 1999

The Great Houdini: World-Famous Magician and Escape Artist, Random House/New York, 1999

Life In the Wild: Alligators Random House/New York, 1999

Life In the Wild: Bears Random House/New York, 1998

Vanished! The Mysterious Disappearance of Amelia Earhart Random House/New York, 1996




Awards and Nominations


It’s A Snap! George Eastman’s First Photograph was chosen by the OLA as a 2009 “Best Bets” selection.

It’s A Snap! George Eastman’s First Photograph was also shortlisted for the 2010 Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon Illustrator’s Award, and was a finalist in the Vancouver Children’s Literature Roundtable Informational book category.

It’s A Snap! George Eastman’s First Photograph was nominated for a 2011 Silver Birch Express Award and has also been nominated for a 2011/2012 Red Cedar Book Award.

All Aboard! Elijah McCoy’s Steam Engine was a finalist in the Vancouver Children’s Literature Roundtable Informational book category, and also a finalist in ForeWord Reviews' Book of the Year Awards Juvenile Nonfiction Category.




Presentation Details


Grades I will present to: 2 – 5

Maximum number of students per session: 40

Venues: Classrooms and libraries.

I request that a librarian or teacher be present throughout the presentation.

My focus is on invention and writing. In what ways are these two activities similar? I have published five books about inventors and their inventions (and written as many that aren’t yet published), and like to talk with the kids about how inventing is like writing. You get an idea. That is your personal “Aha! moment.” You begin to explore that idea by dreaming and thinking and scribbling on paper all the thoughts that come to mind, much the way an inventor scribbles his or her designs on paper. Margaret E. Knight, the inventor of a machine to fold and paste the square-bottom of a paper bag, found her notebooks especially valuable when she had to prove that she was the inventor of her machine. What are the similarities between invention, creation, and discovery, and how do these apply to the craft of writing?