Summer in the Amazon Rainforest

I am wrapping up this series detailing what each teaching author did over the past summer, each experience beautiful and meaningful in its own way. 

Because I was awarded a very special fellowship in honor of the memory of a young environmental scientist, activist and educator, Courtney R. Wilson, I attended a transformative, education professional development in the Peruvian Amazon Rainforest this past summer.

For 10 days, I was immersed and engaged with other educators from across the U.S., deep in the primary Amazon Rainforest through the Morpho Institute’s Educator Academy, to understand how teachers can play a role in the conservation of the Amazon Rainforest.

 

I was especially drawn to this profound experience because of my work with young students around climate change.  Although I had been to the Amazon in 1999, I had traveled by myself and experienced the biodiversity as a tourist.  I found it to be the most magical place on Earth. During the few days of my tour in 1999, I saw tropical birds, caiman, sloths, monkeys, and all the other rainforest animals and insects one would expect to encounter.  I was enchanted and I knew I would return.

The Amazon Rainforest is known as “the lungs of the Earth.”  As a kindergarten teacher, kidlit author, and mother, I was pressed to return given the escalation of climate change.  I recognize that am a gatekeeper and that I stand on the precipice to lead young people into understanding and action around the conservation of this critical ecosystem.  I cannot save the world.  I am long past the arrogance of this belief, but I can work in my own little corner to add to the efforts. Sometimes it is daunting at best, and I am overcome by the futility of it all.  But then I am reminded of the necessity by the wide-eyed 4- and 5-year-olds that I teach and write for.

I was compelled to participate in the Morpho Institute’s Educator Academy to deepen my knowledge of the land, the river, and the animals/insects/birds/fish, the biodiversity.  What I did not expect to connect with was the humanity.  Because of the relationships that the Morpho Institute has developed with the local indigenous communities, I was able to meet and witness the conservation efforts of these indigenous communities who live in the Amazon Rainforest.  

We spent time with the Sucusari Maijuna indigenous community, who live on the Sucusari River a tributary off the Amazon.  This is my understanding of their incredible struggle for conservation of the area based on my observations, a clarifying interview with Christa Dillabaugh, executive director of the Morpho Institute Educator Academy, and the article cited at the end of this post.

The Sucusari indigenous Maijuna community is relatively accessible because of its proximity to the river so they were most affected by loggers and poachers.  Their river and land were devastated by bad practices of the loggers and poachers, which poisoned the fish and decimated the animal populations, drastically reducing the ability of the Maijuna to feed their own families. 

Through organizing efforts that spanned over time, they were able to consolidate their power with the other three Maijuna Communities located in other areas of the Peruvian Amazon to petition the government to designate their land as a regional conservation area making them the guardians of this area.  I believe it was not fully realized until they partnered with NGOs (Non-governmental Agencies) and the Kichwa indigenous communities.  Ultimately, the Mijuana/Kichwas Regional Conservation area was formed, 391,039 hectors (275,000 hectors of primary rainforest.)  This designation legally protects their homeland.

One of the most moving aspects of this story for me is the dedication to conservation efforts of the land undertaken by the Sucusari community, revising their own practices.  In the past they had cut down trees to harvest honey and through their recognition of the damage this causes, they have adopted new ways.  Instead of cutting down the trees for honey they now cultivate native stingless bees in bee boxes on their land.  Instead of cutting down Palm trees to harvest the fronds and fruit, they have developed ways to leave the trees standing while harvesting the fronds to create palm rope.  We witnessed their eco-friendly fishing and have heard and seen on a Trap Camera the recovery of big game in the area that were previously thought to be gone. The practices of this community have led to the recovery of the rainforest in their area.  

Tragically, they are now in the midst of a fight to prevent the government from putting a 130-kilometer road in with a 10-kilometer-wide development corridor.  This possible project, that will bisect the conservation area, threatens to destroy the biodiversity, fracturing the habitats, and destroying cultural and ancestral lands important to the Maijuna. 

This possible road opens up the interior of the primary rainforest to logging and poaching. (the recent film We Are Guardians details similar destruction in Brazil and the indigenous communities who are fighting back) This struggle is also not much different than the recent news that our North American entire coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska is being opened up with the same struggle occurring, especially against the possibility of a road going through much like the struggle of the Maijuna. I am heartened to see the struggle.  I am awakened to the organizing efforts of the indigenous communities most directly connected to the eco-system which they are positioned to protect.

When I returned folks asked me what the most interesting thing I had experienced in the Rainforest was…to my own surprise, I answered, “the people.”  I experienced the indigenous communities of the Amazon and their hard work to help the Amazon recover and I was filled with awe. I returned hopeful.

By Zeena M. Pliska

Author of Hello, Little One: A Monarch Butterfly Story

                 Egyptian Lullaby

                 Chicken Soup for the Soul for Babies Say Thank You? (But Why?)

                 Chicken Soup for the Soul for Babies A Gift For Me? (I Want It!)

For More Information About the Morpho Institute

Morpho Institute, Amazon Conservation - Morpho Institute

For More Information About the Educator Academy and Scholarships (due Nov. 15th)

Professional Development - Morpho Institute

For More Information About the Maijuna Indigenous Community

The Maijuna: Fighting for Survival in the Peruvian Amazon


Trautmann, Nancy, and Michael Gilmore. “The Maijuna: Fighting for Survival in the Peruvian Amazon.” Environment & Society Portal, Arcadia (Autumn 2019), no. 46. Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society. http://www.environmentandsociety.org/node/8956 . This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License . 2019 Nancy Trautmann and Michael Gilmore This refers only to the text and does not include any image rights. Please click on an image to view its individual rights status. ISSN 2199-3408 Environment & Society Portal, Arcadia Source URL: http://www.environmentandsociety.org/node/895

How I Spent My Summer (Plus Publication News)

Happy Friday! 

Today, I continue our TeachingAuthors series on something fun, interesting, or unusual we did over the summer. Esther kicked off the series back in August with this post about the joy she experienced facilitating a Manuscript Workshop in Vermont and also while helping several of her authors birth new books. Next, April gave us this sneak peek into her writing retreat with her best friend, Bruce Balan, and she shared a sensory-filled poetry writing prompt. Mary Ann wrote in September of rediscovering Brenda Ueland's classic So You Want to Write and being once again inspired to write with JOY. (Hmm. That seems a recurring theme here.) And most recently, Bobbi discussed starting a new chapter of her life and contemplating What happens next?  In today's post, I will share bits of writing-related news and a recently published poem. You'll also find a link to this week's Poetry Friday roundup at the end of the post. 

We've had an unseasonably warm fall so far in the Chicago area, and a taste of summer seems to still linger here in the middle of October. I kicked off summer with a visit to downtown Naperville to check out the 18 painted duck sculptures scattered around town. (Watch a video about the ducks here.)

However, I didn't spend as much time outdoors this summer as I would have liked. Instead, I worked on bringing my young adult historical Playing by Heart back into print. I don't recall if I've mentioned here that the book's publisher, Vinspire Publishing, closed their doors unexpectedly in late 2024. I was shocked by the news, but grateful they returned all rights to their authors before completely shutting down. 

Years ago, after I got the rights back from Candlewick for my first novel, Rosa, Sola, I self-published the paperback and ebook versions. But lots has changed since then, and it took longer to get Playing by Heart back into print than I expected. I was finally able to release the new edition, which now includes book discussion questions, on September 8. I'm hoping the book discussion questions will be used by book clubs, classroom teachers, and homeschooling groups. And I'm inviting these groups to join my 25 Book Clubs Challenge. 

As a thank you for participating, I'm offering a free virtual visit to any group that reads the book. I love sharing the true story of the two amazing sisters who inspired Playing by Heart, so I hope you'll help spread the word to any group that might be interested. While Playing by Heart is considered young adult because the main characters are teens, many adult readers have enjoyed it, including members of two adult book clubs I've already visited.  Please help me meet my goal of speaking to at least 25 groups! For more about the challenge, see the Book Clubs page of my website. 

I'm also happy to share two other bits of publication news I received over the summer. First, I found out that my story, “Blessing in Disguise,” was accepted for publication in Chicken Soup for the Soul: The Spirit of Christmas: 101 Joyful Holiday Stories edited by Amy Newmark, which released just this week! 

You may recall that I had a story in last year's Chicken Soup for the Soul: Tales of Christmas: 101 Stories of Holiday Joy, Love and Gratitude. It's fun to have stories in back-to-back Chicken Soup holiday books. But what makes this even MORE fun is the fact that my friend and critique group partner Julie Phend also has a story in The Spirit of Christmas, and we'll be having a joint book signing at Anderson's Bookshop in Naperville on Sunday, November 23, 2025 at 2:00 PM! Details are posted on the Anderson's website here. I hope some of our TeachingAuthors readers will join us!

My second bit of publishing news is that I have a poem in the fall 2025 issue of Little Thoughts Press Magazine. The poem, "Thirsty Amaryllis" is one I first wrote years ago, but it wasn't until recently that I revised it to my satisfaction. I hope you can read it in the photo I took of the magazine page below. Or you can get your own copy of the magazine in print or pdf form here.  

 

For more poetry, check out this week's Poetry Friday roundup hosted by Sarah Grace Tuttle.

Happy writing!

Carmela

Summer of Regeneration

 

One of my Facebook favorite groups is the KIDLIT411, hosted by Sylvia Liu and Elaine Kiely Kearns. They also put out a weekly 411 newsletter that covers relevant industry topics. The group boasts a hefty 18K membership, including many professionals in the publishing industry, so the discussions run the gamut. And while the focus is on all things related to children’s literature, from board books to young adult, the discussions could be applied to any writer working in any genre from children’s books to adult.

One of the most asked questions in the group is “what happens next”? Whether it’s a follow-up question after the first book is written, or the first chapter.  Or how to start your novel. Whether it’s about the querying process or about the value of comps. About characters or plots. Or illustrations and cover-art. Whether it’s about writing to trends or looking for recommendations or offering warnings about the newest scams.  How many rejections must one receive before giving up?

“What happens next” is at once a confrontation with change, fear of that change, and a worry that it won’t ever change.  It’s at once an ask for hope and a cry for help.  

You’ll remember I asked this question not long ago, what happens next? 

I’ve been teaching forty years. FORTY years. I've taught at high school afterschool programs community college, university and graduate schools.  Sometimes at the same time! Forty years is a long time. Last summer I made plans to finally move on. Well, at the beginning of this summer, I began to put those plans into action. I  turned in my notice at a community college, after teaching there for 25 years. Being an adjunct, all this means is filling out a form for no more contracts. No fanfare, no benefits. And, just as this summer ends, I filled out the forms for this MFA, telling them I can’t accept any more contracts.

So, what happens next?

Being an old duck has taught me two things. 1. I can’t control what’s beyond my control. 2. All I can do is waddle forward.

As the Doctor once told us (Doctor whooo, you ask?) Life depends on change and renewal. All you can do is regenerate.

 Because I have several books under my belt, I’m what they used to call a mid-lister. All of my books have earned out. A few won some hefty awards. But the last book was published over a decade ago, so I’m not sure if a mid-lister label still holds.  None of that matters in my current pursuit of a contract. And, as it happens, I’m also in search of a new agent. I've had four agents already, so one would think I’d get this right after all this time. And agents are more selective than ever in large part because the pool is bigger to choose from.

So what happens next?  I keep waddling.

I have no expectations now that I’ll receive another contract. But I have every confidence that my current project will be the best book I’ve ever written. I am reminded of Elizabeth Gilbert’s (Eat Pray Love) on receiving rejections, “Whenever I got those rejection letters, then, I would permit my ego to say aloud to whoever had signed it: “You think you can scare me off? I’ve got another eighty years to wear you down! There are people who haven’t even been born yet who are gonna reject me someday—that’s how long I plan to stick around.”

(Not sure I'll last another 80 years, though!)

But tis the season of regeneration!  This is just a reset. It’s not the end of something, but a new beginning!

You remember what the Doctor said…

 Thank you for reading! -- Bobbi

Writing with JOY!!! by Mary Ann Rodman

    I ran into an old friend this summer.  I hadn't checked in with her in awhile, but she had been right there on my bookshelf the whole time. Before Julia Cameron and her "artist dates" and Anne Lamott's "bird by bird" mantra, there was Brenda Ueland's seminal writing book, So You Want to Write. For a book first published in 1938, and rediscovered in 1983 by Greywolf Press, Brenda''s peppy prose hasn't aged at all.

Brenda Ueland, late in life.

So You Want to Write was the first book on writing I ever read. Honesty, I didn't know there was such a thing as a "how-to-write" book. By 1984, I had given up writing, except for journaling. I had written my whole life, with some decent success...for a kid.  Competing against other young writers was one thing but against professionals? How could I hope to compete? So I didn't. 

I missed writing, but figured it was an unrequited love. I was a school librarian, a job I loved but... I'd read the YA books at work and think "I could do better than this." Then I'd tell myself to shut up and forget about it. Until the next time.

Brenda was introduced to me via NPR. I was driving home from work when NPR reviewed So You Want to Write. It was the briefest of All Things Considered segments but I gathered that Ms Ueland believed  anyone could write. You didn't need an MFA or an Ivy League degree. You didn't have to live a wild bohemian life in Greenwich Village, (although Brenda Ueland was quite the Village wild child in the Roaring 20's.) Everybody's life provides them with the tools to be a successful writer. All you really need is the desire, and willingness to be spend the time writing.

I had to find this book! In the days before Amazon, that meant driving almost a 100 miles, one way to the nearest bookstore. Thank God for Barnes & Noble; they had the book. It was all I could do not to floor the car all the way home to read my new treasure.

And what a treasure it was! I still have never read anything as intimate and reassuring. It was as if Brenda Ueland was sitting next to me, chatting about writing over steaming mugs of black tea. Write what you love, write with passion and abandon. Forget the spelling and the grammar and the symbolism and all the writing tricks and techniques. Just write! Write honestly, without pretense. Don't use ten dollar words unless that's exactly what you want to say. And remember...we all can write!

Encouraged, I read on. Write without regard to money or audience.  Write for you!

Oh. I thought about all those things every time I scrolled a sheet of paper into my typewriter. Brenda was especially fond of William Blake and Van Gogh, two artists who created for their own pleasure. They also were almost unknown in their own time. Brenda herself was quite a successful journalist, writing for all the popular magazines of her day. She wasn't worrying about paying the rent! I would have to work on the "not worrying" part. I read on.

Observe life with JOY!!! (I could imagine Brenda fairly shouting those words.) Write what catches your eye, what you think about, no matter how insignificant. No self judgement. Just write. Be free! I picture Brenda on her feet, waving her hands as if to shoo me off to my desk. Go! Now! What are you waiting for?

After reading So You Want to Write I walked around in a golden haze of observation, as if I was in love. When you are in love, everything in your world takes on a special significance.  Life smells sweeter, tastes better, feels soft as velvet. Everything moment has meaning. I was in love with words. I wrote and wrote and wrote.

Writing with JOY!!  I banged out the first three chapters of a YA novel that I stupidly submitted without writing the rest of the book. When the publisher said they wanted to read the whole thing, I faked a week-long bout of flu to finish the story. (Surprise! Writing a book in a week does not work unless you are Stephen King.)

I kept working with JOY!!! but as time went on, I became aware of my own weaknesses. I didn't know how to structure a plot or build a character. I just wrote. I could (and still can) spin out pages and pages without ever creating a story. (The best critique I ever got was "You write very well but you aren't saying anything.") Eventually I found my way to the Vermont College MFA program, and learned how to do those things. As I became focused on craft and pace and technique, I didn't always write with JOY!!! Sometimes I was just slogging from one plot point to the next. I forgot about Brenda.

But you know what? In the end, Brenda was absolutely right. My first sold book was one I wrote with great passion (and a Diet Coke and Jim Beam!)in two hours without thinking of an audience. I never remotely considered submitting to a publisher, because I didn't "know how" to write a picture book. I wrote it only to cheer up my three-year old daughter. She could've cared less. That book was My Best Friend.

That manuscript would never have left my desk if circumstances hadn't interfered to prevent me writing anything else for two months. I needed to something to send in as part of my semester's work for Vermont.  So I sent the picture I didn't know how to write.  I was not surprised when no one in my critique group had anything good to say about it...except the moderator, the great Eric Kimmel.  He thought I should "send it somewhere." I was deliriously happy because in a full year into the program no one had so much as hinted that I had written anything worth publishing. After 27 rejections, it found a home with Viking, the last publisher on my alphabetical list. Twenty years later, it is still in print. I discovered last month that the school system where my daughter teaches, gave every K-2 classroom a copy of My Best Friend. That's a lot of book sales! 

My most successful books have been ones that I wrote for myself (or my daughter) without considering whether they were topical or part of a curriculum. They were fun. I wrote with JOY!!! 

I remembered all this when I found So You Want to Write on my bookshelf. It's been awhile since I've written with joy and abandon and without looking over my shoulder. JOY!!! has been absent from my life for a considerable period of time. I'm writing on an otherwise extremely stressful day, but for the hour in which I created this post, it was absolutely with JOY!!!

Thank you, Brenda Ueland!

Posted by Mary Ann Rodman

FRIENDS WRITING RETREAT & POETRY PROMPT

A WRITING RETREAT WITH MY BEST FRIEND

Howdy, Campers ~ and happy Poetry Friday! 

Today's PF host is Heidi at My Juicy Little Universe. Her link, my poem, a poetry prompt, and a link to my one-day, 3-hour Writing Poetry class on September 24, 2025 are at the end of this post

This August, Bruce Balan and his wife Alene D. Rice (who have been sailing around the world on their boat, Migration for twenty years) stayed with us for a month. 

Bruce and Alene on Migration, 

their home for over 20 years.

Migration is named after Bruce Balan's picture book,
THE CHERRY MIGRATION; thus, her cherry red hull.

In case you're wondering, they are the most marvelous house guests you'd imagine: they tiptoed in if they came back late at night, treated us to dinners, came bearing gifts (manuka honey!), often left for a few days to visit friends and relatives, and left a bouquet of fresh flowers and hidden thank yous all over the house. Our dog and cat adored them so much, our cat slept on their bed for days after they'd left. (Okay, yes, I was a tad jealous that our pets' affections transferred to Bruce and Alene so completely and so fast.)

Kitty waited at their bedroom door 
until they came home

Bruce and I have been sending each other a poem a day since 2010. Months ago, Bruce suggested that he and I plan a writing retreat when they came to the States, so that we could sort through our 10,000+ poems to find the gems for a book.

What fun!

Here's a peek, culled from my journal, of our first full day:

After yesterday's four-hour drive up the California coast, today has been very productive. 

Morning: Bruce and I made breakfast, then practiced yoga on the front grass (he and Alene do yoga on their boat every day, guided by this app which gives clear—and kind—instructions). The lawn overlooks Peacock Hill Farm's 50 acres of orchards, and the beautiful rolling hills of neighboring farms.

Fields of Peacock Hill Farm and beyond

The owners, whose house adjoined our rental, were out of town--so we were the rulers of this gorgeousness for three full days. At first, we were nervous that the peacocks would wake us up early each morning with the typical infant wailing/screaming alley cat music they make. But it turned out that there were only two who never screeched. We named them John and Mary.

Our work begins. Thank goodness Bruce is so organized. He sets our daily schedule, and I'm grateful for that:

1: Sitting in separate work spaces, we each re-read some of the hundreds of poems written by the other, adding only those we thought might fit our book to a folder. (I made a YES folder of his poems that were "maybes," and he made a YES folder for mine)

2: During another timed hour, we sat across from each other at the kitchen table discussing each possible YES poem with brutal honesty. Well, it wasn't exactly brutal--maybe steadfast is a better word. 

I was wondering how my ego would take the jettisoning of some of my favorite poems. To my surprise, it wasn't hard to agree when he didn't think a poem fit. Take a seat, ego!

3: We took a walk through the avocado orchards (the AirB&B owners invited guests to pick as much of their fruit as we wanted).

4: We worked, separately evaluating poems for another hour...

5: ...then walked, discovering incredibly delicious, ripe tangerines on trees all around us. Those, too, we were also encouraged to harvest. 

6: We evaluated poems together for another hour.

Then, we had delicious Mexican food in a crowded little diner filled with Spanish-speaking diners. Yum!

 And that was Day 1.

Bruce and moi at the AirB&B,
overlooking hills and neighboring fields

We didn't get a photo of John and Mary Peacock, 

but peacocks were everywhere at the rental:

on pillows, paintings, sculptures, books, and so much more

Here's a sample of how emailing poems back and forth has worked for us over the years (except I've added my name and copyright info for this post)

 THE UBBERY TREE
(GREATLY REVISED AS A RESULT OF YOUR CRITIQUE)
by April Halprin Wayland

I wish I could FaceBook our old avocado.   
She held out her arms for us to climb
when I was nine.

My sister dubbed her The Ubbery Tree;
we knighted my sister our Ubbery Queen—
her crown was green. 

We stepped in the middle of our dappled tree tent,
crunched on brown leaves, sticks and dirt,
we smelled wild earth.

We searched for her fruit, climbed her rough branches,
rode her dragon-grey trunk, holding on tight
in filtered light.

We crushed glossy leaves between our fingers,
then breathed her licorice perfume
in our leafy room.

I wish I could FaceBook our old avocado.
She held out her arms for us to climb
when I was nine.

(c) 2011 April Halprin Wayland, all rights reserved

From: Bruce Balan To: 'April Halprin Wayland' 
Sent: Wed, May 11, 2011 10:54 pm
Subject: RE: poem for May 11, 2011 REWRITE OF THE UBBERY TREE

I like this better!
More tree, less sister.
A fine avocado tree
You can’t resist her.

Love,
BB

POETRY PROMPT: Remembering A Special Tree

1) Close your eyes.  Breathe.  Think back; remember a tree.

2) Jot down as many memories about the tree as you can.  Scribble wildly about the smells, about each sense. 

3) You're looking for real details.  The ants.  The nest.  A dead hatchling under the tree. Fruit-juice dribbling down your chin.

4) If you find a tree that reminds you of your long-ago tree, go to it now.  Lie under it. Look up. Run your fingers along its trunk. Crush and smell its leaves. Climb it.

5) I couldn't go back to my tree, so I went to Pixabay and typed child climbing avocado tree, child climbing tree.  Even though neither photo I chose was an avocado tree, the photos brought back the Ubbery Tree and helped me remember more details.

Image by Mircea Iancu from Pixabay

Image by beauty_of_nature from Pixabay

6) Okay.  So now you have the raw material.  Now what?  I finally decided on three-lined stanzas in which the last two lines rhymed.  In the end, the rhythm of each third line is the same. Try this...or find another poem you love and imitate the structure of that. Enjoy your tree memories!

I'd love to hear what tree you (or your students?) chose to write about!

And speaking of students, UCLA Extension Writers' Program is offering my 3-hour one-day Writing Poetry for Children class on Wednesday, September 24th, noon-3pm PST. I'd love to meet you there in your little zoom square!

In the end, it's the specifics, the details that make a poem.

Thank you, Margaret, for hosting Poetry Friday today at Reflections on the Teche