1. By Olivia Barlund

2.  Family  Husband Robin, who is an educator, historian and novelist. She has two sons Rob and Jamie.  Hobbies  Helen likes to read, hike, cook and knit  Awards  She has won over 21 awards for her book “Hooway For Wodney Wat” alone.  Her favorite award she ever won was a North Carolina Children’s Author award.  Howay for Wodney Wat has been the choice of children in 17 states.  Book Inspiration  Helen taught elementary school for many years and now all her second graders have come back to haunt her! They were all in her classes.  Book Theme  Helen’s books have a common theme of behavioral issues with children.

4.  The Wizard, The Fairy, And The Magic Chicken The Wizard, The Fairy, And The Magic Chicken  It Wasn't My Fault It Wasn't My Fault  A Porcupine Named Fluffy A Porcupine Named Fluffy  Pookins Gets Her Way Pookins Gets Her Way  Tacky The Penguin Tacky The Penguin  Me First Me First  Three Cheers For Tacky Three Cheers For Tacky  Listen Buddy Listen Buddy  Princess Penelope's Parrot Princess Penelope's Parrot  Tacky In Trouble Tacky In Trouble  Author and Illustrator: A True Story Author and Illustrator: A True Story  Hooway For Wodney Wat Hooway For Wodney Wat  Score One For The Sloths Score One For The Sloths

5.  Tacky And The Emperor Tacky And The Emperor  Tackylocks And The Three Bears Tackylocks And The Three Bears  Something Might Happen Something Might Happen  Hurty Feelings Hurty Feelings  Tacky And The Winter Games Tacky And The Winter Games  Wuzzy Takes Off Wuzzy Takes Off  The Sheep In Wolf's Clothing The Sheep In Wolf's Clothing  Batter Up Wombat Batter Up Wombat  Tacky Goes to Camp Tacky Goes to Camp  Tacky's Christmas Tacky's Christmas  Wodney Wat's Wobot Wodney Wat's Wobot  All For Me and None For All All For Me and None For All  Happy Birdday Tacky Happy Birdday Tacky  The Loch Mess Monster

6.  Advice for young writers  “Yes, writing is like doing a maze. I have lots of wonderful ideas. And lots of un-wonderful ideas. So the trick is to keep trying to find your way. And the more you exercise your writing the better you get at solving that maze.”  “My Books don’t jump out of the computer” “Not all of my stories get published” and “Being edited isn’t fun but it’s good for you.”

7.  Helen was partially dyslexic when she was younger but her teacher worked with her by using “Mirror Writing” and that helped her.  She dreamed of being married as a young girl but never becoming an author.  Helen struggled with writing and coming up with book ideas at first but after her first published book in 1979 things got easier for her.

9.  http://www.helenlester.com/ http://www.helenlester.com/  http://juliekozisek.wikispaces.com/file/vie w/Helen+Lester.pdf http://juliekozisek.wikispaces.com/file/vie w/Helen+Lester.pdf  http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/auth ors/helen_lester/ http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/auth ors/helen_lester/  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_Lester http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_Lester  http://matottma.tripod.com/Lester/ http://matottma.tripod.com/Lester/