Children's Manuscript Critique - Services for Writing Childrens Books - Lessons to Become a Childrens Book Writer

As the child of writers/journalists, I was always surrounded by books and the writing ethnic, making the writing world a very natural habitat for me and giving me an abiding love for books and the written word.
   My parents' lifestyles, and my adventures as an adult, have afforded me the opportunity to visit many countries, such as Jordan, Lebanon, Cyprus, Egypt, Syria, Morocco, Kenya, Pakistan, India, and parts of Europe. Each place and journey still remains vividly with me because I have a rich and colorful collection of memories.
   Other influences in my life have been the love of history that I inherited from my father, and my love of animals, which has taken me from studying the elephants participating in the holy festivals in southern India, to working alongside the founder of the Jersey Wildlife Preservation Trust Zoo in his breeding program of endangered species.
   Like many writers, I have also had the benefit of experiencing different jobs of various kinds. After getting my degree in zoology from Oxford University, my work life took me in many directions: a research assistant; the head of an education program; a desktop publisher for a children's book author/illustrator; a media coordinator and executive assistant to a vice president of communications at an environmental non-profit in Washington, D.C.; a sub-editor at the home desk and foreign news desk at the Irish Times in Dublin; a veterinary assistant at a veterinary hospital in Virginia; an assistant zookeeper at the Jersey Wildlife Preservation Trust Zoo.
   A few years ago I found myself becoming more and more involved in the children's book world and began reviewing books for Children's Literature, Kidsreads.com, and Midwest Book Review. In the autumn of 2003 I decided to strike out on my own and began my own online children's book review journal, Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Review. It has been an exciting and very rewarding process.
   As I have read so many children's books of all kinds, I find that I have a very clear idea of what does and what does not work when it come to children's literature. I now offer to share what I have learned with children's book authors who are seeking someone to look at and evaluate their work. Please visit the Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Review website to see my work in the children's book field.