Pam Laskin

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Pamela L. Laskin is a Lecturer in the English Department at City College, where she has taught composition and creative writing for over twenty-five years. Additionally, she is Director of The Poetry Outreach Center at The City College. She currently teaches Children’s Writing to graduate and undergraduate students. Prior to teaching, she worked as an editor for McGraw-Hill. She has both a M.F.A. and M.A.T. from SUNY Binghamton, where she also completed her undergraduate work as an English major.

 

 
Over the years, she has taught numerous poetry workshops for all ages—the very young as well as senior citizens. She has published hundreds of poems, and four poetry chapbooks—DEAR HADES (New Spirit Press, 1994); IN A GLASS BALL (Green Meadow Press, 1992);TILL DEATH DO US PART (WordRunner Chapbooks, 2001) and TRICK OR TREAT (WordRunner Chapbooks, 2001).REMEMBERING FIREFLIES, her second book of poetry, was published in 2007 (Plain View Press); GHOSTS, GOBLINS, GODS AND GEODES in 2008 (World Audience Press) and SECRETS OF SHEETS in 2008 (Plain View Press).

 

Ms. Laskin is also a journalist with an extensive portfolio. She was formerly the film critic for THE NASSAU HERALD, and is currently a member of POETS & WRITERS; THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF POETS; THE POETRY SOCIETY OF AMERICA and THE SOCIETY FOR CHILDREN’S BOOK WRITERS AND ILLUSTRATORS.
 
 
Her prizes include:

“Van Gogh’s Ear,” Poetry Society of America bulletin contest; “Teaching Children How to Write,” HUMANIST Magazine, third prize winner and GRAND CENTRAL STATION, Book Contest, Flesh & Bone Publications.

 

Children’s writing is her specialty. She co-authored, A WISH UPON A STAR with Ms. Addie Alexander Moskowitz(Magination Press) and four other books solo: A LITTLE OFF THE TOP (Marvel); HISTORICAL HEROIC HORSES (McGraw-Hill); MUSIC FROM THE HEART (Bantam Books); THE BURIED TREASURE (McGraw-Hill). A children’s poetry book co-authored with Ms. Jeanette Adams and Ms. Elise Buchman, ANIMAL CRACKERS AND THEIR FRIENDS, is due out soon. In 2004, GETTING TO KNOW YOU, a young adult novel, was published by Tudor Press. Clique Calm Books, Inc., published THE HEROIC YOUNG WOMAN, a collection of original fairytales, fables and fantasy, edited by Ms. Laskin in 2006. Linus Publications recently published LIFE ON THE MOON: MY BEST FRIEND’S SECRETS, an anthology of young adult fiction, also edited by Ms. Laskin, and to be used as a textbook in Children’s Writing classes. In the spring of 2010, Diversion Press will publish VISITATION RITES, a young adult novel, and an expansion of a short story originally published in SASSY magazine.

 

 

She just received a summer grant from RF CUNY to write a series of picture books, which are psychologically driven. She has written seven picture books, which as of now are unpublished.

 

                                   

The-Potato-Series

 

About the Potato Series
 
 
 
 
The series of five picture books begins when the three friends plan a picnic (POTATO PICNIC), and realize they must expand their horizons into a much larger field if they are to have a picnic with different types of potatoes, who may eat unusual foods. This book is constructed as an alphabet book (examples posted on right).
 
 
 
This Potato Series is a winning one. It is both frivolous and charming, and relies heavily on language, including superb images as well as playful alliteration. These books are also incredibly profound, developing important themes of racism; jealousy; competition; identity; friendship and community. Each book demands both the character(s) and the reader to “think outside of the box,” the largest of which is the potatoes themselves-for the reader to transcend the stereotypes of what children should look like and think about.

 

Finally, the success of the potato series is that the friends learn to wrestle with various conflicts, and to solve challenging dilemmas on their own. The potato series is a delightful picnic of discovery, in more ways that one! Children ages three-seven will delight in the characters, the landscape, the language and will learn important psychological lessons along the way. The readers will revel in the picnic in “Potato Paradise” where “Potatoes of all sizes baked in the sun, feasted on the food. Carl was content, just watching the faces of all the potatoes at their picnic. Xenia was right; it was a potato paradise, and the field was filled with all his favorite potatoes- Frances Fried and Brian Baked. Even Melanie Mashed had made it here. Zee-luscious!”