Background
Priscilla Cummings was born on April 13, 1951, in Ludlow, Massachusetts, to Robert Cummings, a farmer and chemistry and physics teacher, and Brenda Cummings, a homemaker.
Priscilla Cummings
(Left) Teacher Ronald Apperson and Priscilla Cummings
Priscilla Cummings
Priscilla Cummings
105 Main St, Durham, NH 03824, United States
In 1973, Priscilla received a Bachelor of Arts in English literature from the University of New Hampshire.
4400 Stringfellow Rd, Chantilly, VA 20151, United States
Rocky Run Middle School students with Priscilla Cummings after interviewing her.
(A crab leaves his home at the National Aquarium in Baltim...)
A crab leaves his home at the National Aquarium in Baltimore to help clean up the pollution in the Chesapeake Bay which is threatening the lives of his animal friends.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0870333771/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_taft_p1_i10
1987
(Since the publication of Chadwick the Crab, tens of thous...)
Since the publication of Chadwick the Crab, tens of thousands of children have come to know and care about the engaging creatures that inhabit Shady Creek, a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay. This coloring book offers youngsters the chance to become even more involved with Chadwick and his friends.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0870333895/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_taft_p2_i9
1988
(When condo builders destroy their home, two ospreys move ...)
When condo builders destroy their home, two ospreys move to a channel marker in Chesapeake Bay, where they open a diner.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0870334239/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_taft_p2_i10
1991
(Chadwick the Crab and Bernie the Sea Gull are worried tha...)
Chadwick the Crab and Bernie the Sea Gull are worried that they re going to lose a good friend forever. Hester, a Delmarva fox squirrel, has discovered a book telling her she is on the endangered species list. Not only that, a mysterious monster is lurking around Shady Creek. All this happens just when Chadwick and Esmerelda are getting ready to welcome their family home.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0764336916/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_taft_p2_i0
1993
(Toulouse, the wise old Canada goose from the Chadwick ser...)
Toulouse, the wise old Canada goose from the Chadwick series, stars in his own adventure in this picture book. As a youngster Toulouse wasn't quite so wise, as he freely admits when he tells his nieces and nephews his story one crisp October day. Toulouse had gotten into mischief early - when he was just a newly hatched little yellow gosling - but nothing compared with the trouble he found on his first migration to Maryland. Separated from his family, he was left to find his own way south with a lost snow goose named Desdemona, who became his special friend for life.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0764336924/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_taft_p2_i6
1995
(In trying to win his father's respect, young Will goes on...)
In trying to win his father's respect, young Will goes on a hunting trip with his grandfather and shoots down a Canadian goose, only to become terribly upset with himself for doing such a thing, despite his desire to prove himself to his father.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0525652388/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_taft_p1_i8
1997
(Preschoolers and early readers will enjoy the rhyming sto...)
Preschoolers and early readers will enjoy the rhyming story and colorful pictures in this introduction to Chadwick the Chesapeake Bay blue crab and his many friends: Bernie the Sea Gull, Toulouse the Canada Goose, Matilda Egret, Hector Spector the Jellyfish, Orville Oyster, and others.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0764338226/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_taft_p1_i5
1999
(Priscilla Cummings’s Chadwick the Crab series has been a ...)
Priscilla Cummings’s Chadwick the Crab series has been a staple of Chesapeake juvenile literature for more than a decade. Now Ms. Cummings turns her hand to another classic genre, the ABC book, this one with a Chesapeake regional flavor. From “A is for anchor” to “Z is for a zephyr,” the sights, sounds, and feel of the Bay come through to the youngest of readers.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0764336886/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_taft_p1_i7
2000
(Twelve-year-old Kelley decides to cut off contact with he...)
Twelve-year-old Kelley decides to cut off contact with her friends and classmates after suffering third-degree burns to her face and body in a car accident near her home on Maryland's Kent Island.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0525465227/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_taft_p2_i2
2001
(In Chesapeake 1-2-3, companion book to Chesapeake ABC, th...)
In Chesapeake 1-2-3, companion book to Chesapeake ABC, the bay comes alive for preschoolers and toddlers learning to count. Pages and scenes grow more crowded as readers approach "ten," then see all the numbers once again.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0870335421/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_taft_p1_i11
2002
(When the financial situation gets worse during the Depres...)
When the financial situation gets worse during the Depression and the McFarland children are separated into various temporary foster homes, eleven-year-old Grace isn't happy and wants to go back home, but when the Hammonds invite her into their loving and prosperous world, Grace begins to think that maybe she doesn't want to return to her own family when the time comes.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0525471235/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_taft_p1_i9
2003
(Brady loves life on the Chesapeake Bay with his friends J...)
Brady loves life on the Chesapeake Bay with his friends J.T. and Digger. But developers and rich families are moving into the area, and while Brady befriends some of them, like the DiAngelos, his parents and friends are bitter about the changes. Tragedy strikes when the DiAngelos’ kayak overturns in the bay, and Brady wonders if it was more than an accident.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000QBYEYQ/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_taft_p1_i0
2004
(Three junior high school girls accuse their music teacher...)
Three junior high school girls accuse their music teacher of inappropriate actions. The story is told through the eyes of one of the accusers, Claire, who lives in the shadow of a disabled younger brother, and the teacher’s daughter Melody. Interwoven in the story are the problems the three accusers face in their own lives and the work Melody does at a horse farm where she helps disabled children – one of whom turns out to be Claire’s brother.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002VFPRW8/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_taft_p2_i5
2005
(Travel beneath the Chesapeake Bay, where Spud, a feisty y...)
Travel beneath the Chesapeake Bay, where Spud, a feisty young blue crab, hates to nap. Waking his underwater friends, Spud launches a rollicking Christmas Eve party that is interrupted by an unexpected traveler in need of Spud's help.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0870335766/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_taft_p1_i6
2006
(Chesapeake Rainbow will help youngsters learn their color...)
Chesapeake Rainbow will help youngsters learn their colors the Chesapeake way. The book is a bright and wonderful companion to the popular Chesapeake ABC and Chesapeake 1-2-3. How many colors has the Chesapeake Bay? More than a rainbow you could say. Blue is the color of the water in the Bay, And blue is the color of a perfect day. The heron that we call Great Blue is blue.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0870335561/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_taft_p2_i3
2009
(Fourteen-year-old Natalie O'Reilly's world is turned upsi...)
Fourteen-year-old Natalie O'Reilly's world is turned upside down with the news that she will soon go blind. As if this weren't shocking enough, she is forced to face the fact that she must now attend a school for the blind to learn Braille and how to use a cane. As Natalie tackles the skills that will help her to survive in a sighted world, she inwardly hopes for a miracle that will save her sight. But will that miracle come, or will she need to learn to embrace her new life?
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003QMLBRA/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_taft_p1_i2
2010
(Land and sea creatures of the Chesapeake Bay are all brou...)
Land and sea creatures of the Chesapeake Bay are all brought in to this delightful poem that relates how every animal sleeps in a different way. Herons, crabs, clams, turtles and fish each go to sleep in a different place in the water. So, too, do ducks, butterflies, birds, beavers, and even oysters sleep in their own "beds."
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0764334506/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_taft_p2_i7
2010
(Nine months in a juvenile detention facility was the puni...)
Nine months in a juvenile detention facility was the punishment for his crime. After just a month he makes a bold escape that nearly kills him and soon an angry fourteen-year-old Digger is on the run. When injuries stop him, Digger hides at a riverside campground, where he befriends a young boy and a girl his own age. New friends, a job caring for rescued horses, and risking his life to save another make Digger realize that the journey back is not just about getting home. But he come to terms with his troubled past and face what he's really running from?
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007FEFI5Q/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_taft_p1_i1
2012
(Thirteen-year-old Kate Tyler must ask herself how far she...)
Thirteen-year-old Kate Tyler must ask herself how far she will go to protect her older brother, J.T., when he returns home after nearly a year in a juvenile detention facility, only to find himself ostracized and bullied as he attempts to make a fresh start. Kate compromises her own values and risks getting herself into serious trouble as she launches a secret campaign to protect her brother long enough for him to find his place in the family – and in the world – again.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00O2BS4HY/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_taft_p1_i3
2015
Priscilla Cummings was born on April 13, 1951, in Ludlow, Massachusetts, to Robert Cummings, a farmer and chemistry and physics teacher, and Brenda Cummings, a homemaker.
In 1973, Priscilla received a Bachelor of Arts in English literature from the University of New Hampshire.
Priscilla began her writing career with stories about farm animals. Often, she illustrated the tales and made them into little books. Cummings still remember taking one of these books in to her first grade teacher who put stickers on the cover. She kept a diary, too, wrote to her grandmothers and, in third grade, joined a pen pal club through the Archie comic books. When she was ten, Priscilla spent the summer writing her first chapter book (about a horse, of course) and in high school she tried her hand at reporting for the school newspaper.
Because of financial hardships facing many small farmers, her father gave up his dream of being a farmer and became a chemistry and physics teacher instead. Priscilla had always thought she would follow in her father's footsteps and become a teacher, too, but in college she changed her mind because she enjoyed writing. After graduating from the University of New Hampshire with a degree in English literature, Cummings became a newspaper reporter. Over the next ten years she worked for four different newspapers in four different states.
In 1981, Cummings moved to Maryland where she became a magazine writer and editor for three years. It was in Maryland that Cummings saw her first blue crab. She couldn't believe people actually steamed and ate blue crabs! She began reading about those interesting critters and she learned that in winter, crabs burrow into the mud at the bottom of the Bay to sleep until spring. Then, she began to wonder: what if there was a crab who didn't want to sleep all winter? What if there was a crab who had Big Dreams? Who wanted to be a star at the aquarium in Baltimore, so he wouldn't have to sleep all winter? It was just a silly idea, but that's how it all started. Her first book, Chadwick The Crab, was published in 1986.
Over the years, Cummings wrote several more picture books about animals in the Chesapeake Bay. But she had other stories to tell. She dreamed of writing novels, too. In 1997, her first novel for older children, Autumn Journey, was published. Since then, she has written seven others: a Face First, Saving Grace, Red Kayak, What Mr. Mattero Did, Blindsided, The Journey Back and Cheating For The Chicken Man.
(When the financial situation gets worse during the Depres...)
2003(Preschoolers and early readers will enjoy the rhyming sto...)
1999(In trying to win his father's respect, young Will goes on...)
1997(Twelve-year-old Kelley decides to cut off contact with he...)
2001(Since the publication of Chadwick the Crab, tens of thous...)
1988(A crab leaves his home at the National Aquarium in Baltim...)
1987(Land and sea creatures of the Chesapeake Bay are all brou...)
2010(In Chesapeake 1-2-3, companion book to Chesapeake ABC, th...)
2002(Priscilla Cummings’s Chadwick the Crab series has been a ...)
2000(When condo builders destroy their home, two ospreys move ...)
1991(Chadwick the crab is determined to get to the National Aq...)
1986(Toulouse, the wise old Canada goose from the Chadwick ser...)
1995(Fourteen-year-old Natalie O'Reilly's world is turned upsi...)
2010(Chadwick the Crab and Bernie the Sea Gull are worried tha...)
1993(Thirteen-year-old Kate Tyler must ask herself how far she...)
2015(Chadwick, a lovable crustacean, is getting married, and a...)
1989(Travel beneath the Chesapeake Bay, where Spud, a feisty y...)
2006(Three junior high school girls accuse their music teacher...)
2005(Nine months in a juvenile detention facility was the puni...)
2012(Chesapeake Rainbow will help youngsters learn their color...)
2009(Brady loves life on the Chesapeake Bay with his friends J...)
2004Most of her stories were inspired by something in real life that moved her emotionally. When Priscilla talks with students about writing, she often explains how many of the skills she learned as a reporter helped her transform the spark of an idea into an entire book.
Quotations:
"When children at school ask me what advice I have for them, as future authors, I tell them they should be reading at every opportunity: books, magazines, newspapers. I tell them to write - not just stories, but poems, letters, journal entries, essays - whatever. And I tell them this: they should be learning to watch and listen."
"As a newspaper reporter for ten years, I learned that standing back to watch and listen often gave me as much compelling information as asking a question or demanding an answer. As an author, I have discovered that standing back to watch and listen gives me many of the valuable details that bring a character to life and drive a story forward."
Priscilla is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators and Children’s Book Guild of Washington.
Priscilla enjoyed mountain climbing with her father, especially in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Today, Priscilla's home is in Annapolis, Maryland. She has a small sailboat and a green canoe, but no red kayaks. She also has two cats named Mr. Charles Bingley (Mr. B. for short) and Romeo. When Priscilla isn't writing or visiting schools she enjoys reading, playing the piano and taking long walks. She thinks a lot on her walks and, often, she daydreams about her days growing up on the farm.
She reads the books she especially enjoys twice - once to read the book, and the second time to look into the book more closely. For her, reading other books is an escape from her current work and a great source of inspiration. Whenever Cummings is experiencing writer’s block, she takes a break for a few days to read. Despite the hundreds of books she has read, her favorite has always been "Charlotte’s Web." This is one of only two books she has kept since her childhood.
On September 17, 1983, Cummings married John W. Frece, an aide to Maryland’s governor. They have two children: William Frece and Hannah Frece.