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The Short of It

Andria Warmflash Rosenbaum is a former resource room teacher who writes poetry and picture books that explore universal human truths. Her poetry and short stories have appeared in magazines from Babybug to Highlights. She writes, bakes, gardens, and dreams of traveling the globe from her home in New Jersey.

The Long of It

I wrote my first picture book when I was eleven. Unfortunately, I also did the illustrations. But, since then I've sold poetry and short stories to magazines like Babybug, Cricket, Highlights, Ladybug and Spider. My short story called "The Color of Hope" won the 2008 SCBWI Magazine Merit Award for fiction, after being published by Cricket Magazine in October 2007.

 

When I'm not writing, Ruby-- my pet therapy dog-- takes me to visit children in schools.
I also enjoy photographing nature, baking and having dance parties with my grandchildren. Ruby usually just watches unless we play her favortie song.

 

When I was a bit younger, my father read to me and my siblings before bed. Some nights he read us poetry. Other nights he read us short stories, or novels. The moments we all shared were some of the best of my life.


*******************************************************
THE BEST GIFT
Andria W. Rosenbaum/ all rights reserved

 

It sailed into my ears
seating me on an elephant's leathery back.
Acrid scents of unwashed beasts
rained around me as teams of chimpanzees
tip-toed through the tree tops
in a steamy green jungle.
Liquid heat
unleashed muddy streams
down my arms and legs till I plunged
into the dark waters
of the Zambezi River.

 

I was captured
in a wild world where roars ruled.
Tigers tracked my steps
and drums, tight with tanned antelope skins
thump-bumped a lullaby
in an African night, sown with stars.

 

It was the best gift
that gave me a Serengeti sunset
and the tall, dry grass of the wide plain
as I rode the voice
of my father on safari
through Tarzan of the Apes.
*****************************************************

 

There were days when I thought I'd never be a published writer. Many days. Many years. Sometimes, I thought I'd rather be:
An astronaut, an Olympic sprinter, an explorer, an actress, a song writer/rock star, a gardener, a photographer, a dog trainer, a jockey and a teacher. I was a teacher for a while.

 

I would play with those other ideas, but always boomeranged back to writing. I often wondered why? Writers have to deal with so much judgment and rejection. They constantly have to come up with fresh ideas. They must be stubborn, determined, persistent, focused, solitary, resilient, patient and generally okay with hearing the word NO. So why bother writing?

 

Because I love the notion of sharing ideas.
I love playing with language.
I love creating something from nothing.
Being a writer lets me walk through my imagination.

 

I write for the moments when writing is like magic. Words can be a ticket to somewhere else. They can pass you a handful of hope. They can open your eyes to a new point of view. They'll unlock the door to a stranger's house and let you safely explore. They can share laughter and shine a light where there once was only darkness. They gift us with understanding and spark ideas for change. And sometimes they're just for fun. Never underestimate the importance of fun.