Barchers, Suzanne I. 1946-

PERSONAL:

Born July 30, 1946, in Oakland, CA; daughter of Charles (a minister) and Inez Dumville; divorced; children: Jeffrey, Joshua. Education: Eastern Illinois University, B.S., 1967; Oregon State University, M.A., 1973; Colorado State University, Ed.D., 1985. Politics: Democrat. Religion: Presbyterian. Hobbies and other interests: Playing the flute.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Oakland CA. Office—LeapFrog, 6401 Hollis St., Emeryville, CA 94608. E-mail— [email protected].

CAREER:

Began career as a schoolteacher; worked in publishing as an acquisitions editor; Weekly Reader, worked as managing editor; LeapFrog, Emeryville, CA, vice president and editor in chief.

MEMBER:

Association of Educational Publishers (treasurer), Public Broadcasting Service Next Generation Media Advisory Board.

AWARDS, HONORS:

President's Award for Excellence, Association of Educational Publishers; Districts Choice Award, Curriculum Product News, and Story-telling World Honor Book citation, both for Wise Women: Folk and Fairy Tales from around the World.

WRITINGS:

(Editor and reteller) Wise Women: Folk and Fairy Tales from around the World, illustrated by Leann Mullineaux, Libraries Unlimited (Englewood, CO), 1990.

Creating and Managing the Literate Classroom, illustrated by Leann Mullineaux, Teacher Ideas Press (Englewood, CO), 1990.

(With Patricia C. Marden) Cooking Up U.S. History: Recipes and Research to Share with Children, illustrated by Leann Mullineaux, Teacher Ideas Press (Englewood, CO), 1991, 2nd edition, 1999.

Readers Theatre for Beginning Readers, Teacher Ideas Press (Englewood, CO), 1994.

Teaching Language Arts: An Integrated Approach, West Publishing (St. Paul, MN), 1994.

(With Patricia C. Marden) Cooking Up World History: Multicultural Recipes and Resources, Teacher Ideas Press (Englewood, CO), 1994.

Scary Readers Theatre, Teacher Ideas Press (Englewood, CO), 1994.

(With Peter J. Rauen) Storybook Stew: Cooking with Books Kids Love, Fulcrum Resources (Golden, CO), 1996.

Fifty Fabulous Fables: Beginning Readers Theatre, Teacher Ideas Press (Englewood, CO), 1997.

(With Peter J. Rauen) Holiday Storybook Stew: Cooking through the Year with Books Kids Love, illustrated by Darcie Clark Frohardt, Fulcrum Resources (Golden, CO), 1998.

Teaching Reading: From Process to Practice, Wadsworth Publishing (Belmont, CA), 1998.

(With Marilee Robin Burton and Beth Alley Wise) 365 Reading Activities, illustrated by Kate Flanagan and Lynn Sweat, Publications International (Lincolnwood, IL), 1998.

Bridges to Reading: Teaching Reading Skills with Children's Literature, two volumes, Teacher Ideas Press (Englewood, CO), 1999.

(With Marilee Robin Burton and Beth Alley Wise) Reading Activities, Publications International (Lincolnwood, IL), 2000.

Multicultural Folktales: Readers Theatre for Elementary Students, Teacher Ideas Press (Englewood, CO), 2000.

From Atalanta to Zeus: Readers Theatre from Greek Mythology, Teacher Ideas Press (Englewood, CO), 2001.

(With Jennifer L. Kroll) Classic Readers Theatre for Young Adults, Teacher Ideas Press (Greenwood Village, CO), 2002.

(With Michael Ruscoe) People Who Met—and Beat— the Odds: Easy Readers Theatre for Grades 3-8, Hi Willow Press (Salt Lake City, UT), 2003.

Judge for Yourself: Famous American Trials for Readers Theatre, Teacher Ideas Press (Portsmouth, NH), 2004.

In Short: How to Teach the Young Adult Short Story, Heinemann (Portsmouth, NH), 2005.

(With Charla R. Pfeffinger) More Readers Theatre for Beginning Readers, Teacher Ideas Press (Westport, CT), 2006.

Author of nearly thirty children's books for LeapFrog, between 2000 and 2005. Contributor to magazines, including Learning.

SIDELIGHTS:

Suzanne I. Barchers told CA: "I began writing academic articles with a professor during my doctoral studies. That led to articles for Learning magazine. Then I began writing books for the teacher market. One of my publishers asked me to join the company as an acquisitions editor. It was truly a learning-on-the-job experience. I moved to a position with a trade publisher, starting a line of teacher resources and children's books. That led to being managing editor at Weekly Reader. During that time I was asked to write short books for LeapFrog's interactive LeapPad. That association eventually led to being the editor in chief and vice president at LeapFrog, where I guide everything from infant toys to school curricula. It's been a fifteen-year career in publishing, after many years as a teacher. During the years in publishing, I've written books, usually at 4:00 in the morning."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, August, 2000, Hazel Rochman, review of Multicultural Folktales: Readers Theatre for Elementary Students, p. 2151.

School Library Journal, August, 2000, Nancy Menaldi-Scanlan, review of Multicultural Folktales, p. 215; December, 2002, Betty S. Evans, review of Classic Readers Theatre for Young Adults, p. 153.