Sheila Kelly Welch began writing and drawing while she was in elementary school. Her black crayon was always worn down from drawing horses with wild manes and sweeping tails. After attending college and teaching for several years, she decided to pursue a writing career. Her short stories have been published by numerous children's magazines, including Cricket, Children's Playmate, Spider, Ladybug, Cicada, and Highlights for Children. She has illustrated many of her own stories for The Cricket Magazine Group. One of these, "The Holding-On Night," won the International Reading Association's Short Story Award.

Sheila has written and/or illustrated twelve books for various ages. Her first novel, Don't Call Me Marda, was a finalist for the national Benjamin Franklin Award. Three of her short chapter books are read by schoolchildren around the world. Her two most popular books are Little Prince Know-It-All and A Horse for All Seasons. Her novel The Shadowed Unicorn was on the short list for the Prairie Pasque Award (similar to the Rebecca Caudill Award in Illinois), and a review in Booklist likened it to Bridge to Terabithia. She illustrated two popular historical novels, Sean's War and Sean's Quest, and a picture book, Something in the Air.

The Welch family share their country home near Forreston, in Northwestern Illinois, with a menagerie of pets.

Since the publication of her first book, Sheila has presented hundreds of programs. Her primary goals when meeting with students are to encourage them to read and to inspire them in their own creative work.

Programs:

1. Schools: Each session 40 -- 60 minutes
   
   A) Groups -- up to 80 students. These informative and entertaining programs are geared to the ages of the children. (preschool -- 8th grade)

   B) Small groups or individual classes. A short presentation is combined with writing exercises that are designed to help students improve creative writing skills. The 6 + 1 Writing Traits can be emphasized.

2. Libraries, reading groups, writers groups, conferences, etc. Programs vary and are designed to fit the audience.

Fees are negotiable; usually $200 per presentation (limited to three per day). Travel and overnight accommodations are extra.

Contact Information:
E-mail: sheilawelch@juno.com
Website: http://shadowplay.userworld.com/sheilawelch