Cheryl Lawton Malone

Creative Consultant

Creative Consultant

Selling a work today requires that your audience love your story, not just like your manuscript. Falling in love takes a ton of hard work, which means starting with a great story idea, understanding today’s marketplace, piling on the heart, stakes, and conflict, honing your craft, writing a good plot, and…

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Author

Cheryl is a freelance writer, poet, and award-winning author of children’s literature. 2015’s DARIO AND THE WHALE is a Shelf Awareness Best Children’s Book of 2016, a Cooperative Children’s Book Center Winner for 2017, a Book Best Debut Picture Books of 2016, and a 2018 Mass Book Awards Must Read.

Learn More at Cheryl’s Author Website

Books by Cheryl Lawton Malone

Learn More at Cheryl’s Author Website

Writing Kidlit Series

Writing Kidlit 101

Do you want to write the book that kids (or teens) want to read? Writing Kidlit 101 is a 10-session, self-guided course that will help you learn the craft of writing fiction for children and young adults — aka kidlit. As passionate kidlit authors & writing teachers, we’ve developed a series of user-friendly narratives, tips and tricks, hands-on exercises, and calls to action that you can put into practice as you go. That’s the secret sauce! A solid understanding of the craft, an awareness of the marketplace, and a process that works for you. (For more info, visit my YouTube Channel.)

Also avilable: Writing Kidlit 102

Writing Kidlit Series

Writing Kidlit 102

Writing a book for children or young adults — no matter how long or short — is a challenge. Sure, you could sit down and let the words flow. But the reality is — except for a lucky few — first drafts rarely happen that way. We know — and you know — there’s no “one way” to write a picture book or novel. That’s where Writing Kidlit 102 comes in. This book will help you wrangle that story out of your heart and onto the page. On your terms. In your time. In a way that sets you up for success.

And that’s just the beginning. Through our collaboration, Write On Productions, we offer writers a new way to get on track and stay on track, including tools, resources, and exclusive digital content. We know how hard it is to write because we’ve been there. Both of us dreamed of writing kidlit while juggling kids and careers. Now having sold more than 350,000 books between us, we can’t wait to help you achieve your dream. (For more info, visit my YouTube Channel.)

Also avilable: Writing Kidlit 101

Featherita

Say hello to Featherita, the littlest chick on the farm. When today starts out EXACTLY the same as yesterday, pint-sized Featherita decides to shake things up. Not only does she egg the farm puppies into line behind her own frazzled chicken mama, but she co-op-ts her fellow chicks into following the big farm dog. Neither mother notices the problem until a storm hits. Undaunted, the little chick tries to make things right Featherita-style proving that size doesn’t matter when it comes to chick-in-uity.

Dario and the Whale

When Dario and his mother move to Cape Cod from Brazil, Dario has a hard time making friends since he doesn’t speak English well. But one day Dario meets someone else who has just arrived in New England and he doesn’t speak any English at all…because he’s a right whale! Day after day Dario and the whale meet at the beach. But what will happen when it’s time for the whale to migrate?

Praise for DARIO AND THE WHALE

“A heartwarming paean to long walks along the beach.” Kirkus Reviews

“[W]ill spark rich conversations[.]” School Library Journal

“[P]owerful yet buoyant.” Shelf Awareness (starred)

Elephants Walk Together

As calves, Asian elephants Precious and Baba roam the wild together, curious and proud. But when they get captured and are split up, their time together seems like a distant memory. Still, separated by many miles and over many years, their friendship remains, and there’s hope they will once again roam wide open spaces together.

Praise for ELEPHANTS WALK TOGETHER

“Heartwarming . . . a sweet and sensitive encouragement of wildlife conservation.” Kirkus Reviews

“This sweet story of enduring friendship should help create empathy and spark lots of questions.” Booklist

News & Events

Great Reads from Great Places

The Massachusetts Center for the Book recently selected DARIO AND THE WHALE for the 2021 Library of Congress’ Great Reads from Great Places program, a list of books representing American literary heritage. Learn more.

School and Library Events Available

Contact Cheryl for more information.

About Cheryl

After a 25-year career in corporate and international law, I decided to become a professional writer. I obtained my MFA at Lesley University in 2010, and started teaching at Lesley as an adjunct professor and at Grub Street, a nonprofit writer’s organization in Boston, MA. My first children’s picture book, DARIO AND THE WHALE, was published by Albert Whitman, 2016; it’s in its 4rth printing. My second picture book, ELEPHANTS WALK TOGETHER was also published by Albert Whitman, 2017. A few years ago, I had the great fortune to add a third career–professional dog trainer when I joined the team at All About My Dog. Currently, I work with pet therapy teams and volunteer in schools, libraries and children’s hospitals. My husband and I live in Massachusetts with our two amazing Irish wheaten terriers.

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