­
  • Home
  • Books
    • Sharks Unhooked: The Adventures of Cristina Zenato, Underwater Ranger
    • Giant Rays of Hope: Protecting Manta Rays to Safeguard the Sea
    • A River’s Gifts: The Mighty Elwha River Reborn
    • Planet Ocean
    • Eavesdropping on Elephants
    • Neema’s Reason To Smile
    • Zoo Scientists to the Rescue
    • Sea Otter Heroes: The Predators That Saved an Ecosystem
    • Plastic, Ahoy! Investigating the Great Pacific Garbage Patch
    • Ebola: Fears and Facts
    • Jingle the Brass
    • Nugget on the Flight Deck
    • Surviving Animal Attacks
    • Elite Operations series
    • Energy Lab series
    • QuickReads Fluency Library
    • Books for English language-learners
    • Writers write all kinds of things
  • Author Visit Programs
    • FAQs
    • Calendar
  • Blog
  • Educator Resources
    • STEM + Literacy Activities
    • Teacher Guides
    • Earth Day Every Day newsletter archive
    • LitLinks
    • KidLit creators who make kids want to read
  • Writer Resources
    • Writing Classes
    • Manuscript or Proposal Critiques
    • How I got my start
  • Who is Patricia Newman?
  • Contact
    • Stay In Touch
    • Earth Day Every Day newsletter archive
Patricia NewmanPatricia Newman
Sibert Honor Children's Book Author & Environmentalist
  • Home
  • Books
    • Sharks Unhooked: The Adventures of Cristina Zenato, Underwater Ranger
    • Giant Rays of Hope: Protecting Manta Rays to Safeguard the Sea
    • A River’s Gifts: The Mighty Elwha River Reborn
    • Planet Ocean
    • Eavesdropping on Elephants
    • Neema’s Reason To Smile
    • Zoo Scientists to the Rescue
    • Sea Otter Heroes: The Predators That Saved an Ecosystem
    • Plastic, Ahoy! Investigating the Great Pacific Garbage Patch
    • Ebola: Fears and Facts
    • Jingle the Brass
    • Nugget on the Flight Deck
    • Surviving Animal Attacks
    • Elite Operations series
    • Energy Lab series
    • QuickReads Fluency Library
    • Books for English language-learners
    • Writers write all kinds of things
  • Author Visit Programs
    • FAQs
    • Calendar
  • Blog
  • Educator Resources
    • STEM + Literacy Activities
    • Teacher Guides
    • Earth Day Every Day newsletter archive
    • LitLinks
    • KidLit creators who make kids want to read
  • Writer Resources
    • Writing Classes
    • Manuscript or Proposal Critiques
    • How I got my start
  • Who is Patricia Newman?
  • Contact
    • Stay In Touch
    • Earth Day Every Day newsletter archive
    Where do authors get their ideas? The zoo! @chrischengaus #3rdchat  #4thchat #5thchat #literacy

    Where do authors get their ideas? The zoo! @chrischengaus #3rdchat #4thchat #5thchat #literacy

    December 20, 2013 Book Talks No Comments
    When Christopher Cheng enters a room, the first thing one notices is his long braid. “I haven’t cut my hair in thirteen-plus years,” he says. The second thing one notices is his smile. “I guess I have always been a pretty positive person. I look past the bad and see the good…in people, the environment, in life.” When he begins to speak in his lovely Australian accent, his energy and enthusiasm for life and learning infuse every syllable.
    Cheng studied to be a teacher, but there were no classrooms available after graduation. Instead, he began an eight-year career as an educator at the Taronga Zoo in Sydney, Australia. He taught thousands of children about monkeys, pythons, kangaroos, wombats, bats, possums, lizards and more. During his tenure at the zoo, he wrote several brochures, informational articles, and teachers’ guides. Then Scholastic came calling with a book idea. Throughout college Cheng’s children’s literature professor encouraged him to share his stories and he still has copies of his books from childhood, so writing for children seemed like a natural fit. “It wasn’t until my first book came out, Eyespy Book of Night Creatures, that I realized that writing for kids was so very way cool!” More…
    Tags: Book TalksProfiles
    No Comments
    Share
    0

    You also might be interested in

    Who Wrote That?  Meet Robin Price Glasser

    Who Wrote That? Meet Robin Price Glasser

    Mar 30, 2009

    A bi-weekly feature profiling the talented authors and illustrators who[...]

    Is PLASTIC, AHOY! made with plastic? #3rdchat #4thchat #5thchat #6thchat

    Is PLASTIC, AHOY! made with plastic? #3rdchat #4thchat #5thchat #6thchat

    Feb 27, 2014

    In early February, I received the following question from a[...]

    Who Wrote That? Meet Deborah Hopkinson

    Who Wrote That? Meet Deborah Hopkinson

    Jun 9, 2009

    A bi-weekly feature (oops! late this week…too much happening!) profiling[...]

    Leave a Reply

    Your email is safe with me.
    Cancel Reply

    Click the logo to have LitLinks delivered to your inbox

    LitLinks Logo-2022

    Author Visits

    Video Player
    https://youtu.be/zj6n-RFOcPA?si=8WCTnyXbTiwYumYo
    00:00
    00:00
    00:47
    Use Up/Down Arrow keys to increase or decrease volume.
    Video Player
    https://youtu.be/ziN0UrqaDYI
    00:00
    00:00
    01:39
    Use Up/Down Arrow keys to increase or decrease volume.

    Earth Day Every Day Newsletter Archive

    Earth-Day-Every-Day-newsletter-banner

    Post Categories:

    Blog Archive

    Top Posts

    LitLinks: How to share our ocean connections with kids and teens

    LitLinks: Let’s learn to decode photos in STEM nonfiction

    LitLinks: How Elephants Can Make Your Sound Unit ROAR!

    LitLinks: Easy ways to build students’ science communication skills

    Proof that science connects kids to the larger world

    Recent Comments

    • Danna Smith on LitLinks: Did you know goats can teach children about homonyms? I love this series of books!
    • Raven Howell on LitLinks: Did you know goats can teach children about homonyms? Absolutely love this piece you wrote! Thanks for sharing your…
    • Annie Lynn on LitLinks: 3 easy ways to use animals to introduce onomatopoeia Wonderful idea to link sounds and musical instruments to nature…
    Empowering young readers to act

    Latest Blog Posts

    • LitLinks: How to use nonfiction to help students explore cause and effect
      LitLinks: How to use nonfiction to help students explore cause and effect
    • LitLinks: Teaching free verse poetry through and about nature
      LitLinks: Teaching free verse poetry through and about nature
    • LitLinks: How to use conservation to invigorate student writing
      LitLinks: How to use conservation to invigorate student writing

    Connect with me on social media

    Action Shots

    Check out the STEM Tuesday Blog

    © 2025 — Patricia Newman

    • Home
    • Books
      • Sharks Unhooked: The Adventures of Cristina Zenato, Underwater Ranger
      • Giant Rays of Hope: Protecting Manta Rays to Safeguard the Sea
      • A River’s Gifts: The Mighty Elwha River Reborn
      • Planet Ocean
      • Eavesdropping on Elephants
      • Neema’s Reason To Smile
      • Zoo Scientists to the Rescue
      • Sea Otter Heroes: The Predators That Saved an Ecosystem
      • Plastic, Ahoy! Investigating the Great Pacific Garbage Patch
      • Ebola: Fears and Facts
      • Jingle the Brass
      • Nugget on the Flight Deck
      • Surviving Animal Attacks
      • Elite Operations series
      • Energy Lab series
      • QuickReads Fluency Library
      • Books for English language-learners
      • Writers write all kinds of things
    • Author Visit Programs
      • FAQs
      • Calendar
    • Blog
    • Educator Resources
      • STEM + Literacy Activities
      • Teacher Guides
      • Earth Day Every Day newsletter archive
      • LitLinks
      • KidLit creators who make kids want to read
    • Writer Resources
      • Writing Classes
      • Manuscript or Proposal Critiques
      • How I got my start
    • Who is Patricia Newman?
    • Contact
      • Stay In Touch
      • Earth Day Every Day newsletter archive
    Prev Next

    Notifications