• Age: 9 to 12
• Grade: 4 to 7
• Reading age: 9 to 12

The Teacher’s Guide to accompany Dragon in the Clouds by Rosemary Nelson.
The Okanagan summer stretches out in front of twelve-year-old Nikki like a sparkling rainbow, with lots of time to spend at the beach and with her horse, Ginger. When her cousin Trevor arrives in his wheelchair, spoiling all her plans, they take an instant dislike to one another. But a vision in the clouds will change both her and Trevor’s feelings about a lot of things and, in fact, will help make a dream come true as Trevor competes in the B.C. Games for the Physically Disabled.

Rosemary Nelson was born in the small town of Dinsmore, Saskatchewan, where her parents owned and operated a grain farm. Living in the wide open spaces with neighbourhood children few and far between, her imagination became her best friend. She did not have access to many books, but she developed an early love of reading and with the help of a subscription to a children’s book club and her family’s own collection of classics, the magic of books became central to her childhood. Although creative writing was not encouraged in schools at that time as it is today, she always knew that she wanted to write. After finishing school, she moved to British Columbia, married, finished her teaching degree and raised a family, putting her desire to write temporarily on hold. She currently lives with her husband in the beautiful Okanagan Valley where they raise alpacas. She was a classroom teacher for twenty years and worked part-time as a teacher-librarian. Creative writing has always been her favourite teaching subject. Since the publication of her first children’s novel, Dragon in the Clouds (Napoleon, 1994), Rosemary has gained a reputation as a charismatic and lively presenter. She has appeared at many schools, bookstores and Vancouver’s Word on the Street. She has also been the featured author at two Young Author’s Conferences and enjoys giving writing workshops to young students as well as teaching night school writing courses at the local college. She was chosen to tour to Nunavut for Children’s Book Week in November of 2002 under the auspices of the Canadinan Children’s Book Centre. One of Rosemary’s main goals as a writer is to provide children with quality literature that will turn them on to the magic of words. In her writing, she tries to think of silly situations that will make children laugh, but also situations that will allow them to hope. She has written four novels, including The Golden Grasshopper, Galena’s Gift and Hubcaps and Puppies.

Rosemary Nelson's profile page

Don Nelson's profile page