Star Party
(All ages) October 1st, 2010 (8:00 PM to 10:00 PM)
Use telescopes to look at planets, stars and more in the night sky. Baltimore Woods. $8/person or $25/family. Pre-register. 673-1350.
View all calendar events
(All ages) October 1st, 2010 (8:00 PM to 10:00 PM)
Use telescopes to look at planets, stars and more in the night sky. Baltimore Woods. $8/person or $25/family. Pre-register. 673-1350.
View all calendar events
Chicken Salad with Apples
Recipe makes about 4 servings of 1 cup each Ingredients: • 2 cooked chicken breasts (about 12 ounces), cut up into 1 inch cubes • 1/2 low-fat or fat-free mayonnaise • 1 medium or large Granny... More
Recipe makes about 4 servings of 1 cup each Ingredients: • 2 cooked chicken breasts (about 12 ounces), cut up into 1 inch cubes • 1/2 low-fat or fat-free mayonnaise • 1 medium or large Granny... More
Looking for something?
Onondaga County Libraries
Onondaga County Department of Health
To become a web sponsor, contact our ad staff at parent@cnylink.com
Onondaga County Department of Health
To become a web sponsor, contact our ad staff at parent@cnylink.com
The Syracuse Parent Features are cover stories pulled from our print edition. For ALL features, stories & more, pick up an issue of Syracuse Parent & CNY Family at one of our many locations.
Writing’s all in the family
Posted on Thu, January 21st, 2010
Written by: Jennifer Wing, Editor
email: editor@syracuseparent.net
Uncle, nephew collaborate on chapter book
Christopher Costello knows what it’s like to overcome hurdles. He and his twin brother, Brian, were born prematurely in 1999. At one pound 11 ounces, Chris was tiny, but both he and his brother rose to the challenge and haven’t looked back since.
“He and his brother were miracle babies,” his uncle, Jeff Costello said. “He’s a fighter.”
Chris, now 10, enjoys many things, including athletics, having won a total of seven gold and one silver medal in the Special Olympics, but there is one activity that he loves above all else – reading.
So when Chris’s uncle, Jeff Costello, approached him with the idea of helping him write a children’s book, he didn’t hesitate.
“I said yes – all I’ve ever wanted to do is write books.”
Actually, Jeff said, “He laughed and asked me, ‘Why, do you have writer’s block?’”
And so began a journey that the two would take together, meeting once a week at the Hazard Branch Library to discuss the turns and twists of the plot.
Chris, a fourth grader at Cherry Road Elementary School in the Westhill School District, also enjoys the outdoors and nature, so it was a natural to have the book’s main character be a prairie dog named Andy Anderson. In the story, Andy gets into a guitar that was played be one of a group of teens around a campfire. The book then tells the fish-out-of-water story of Andy in Prairie Town.
“We actually did a lot of research on the animals in the book,” Jeff said. He himself is no stranger to writing, as he has written for Table Hopping and wrote for the bi-monthly publication, Everything Irish CNY for 14 years.
“For instance, we found out that gorillas can’t swim, and we have a gorilla in the book, so we added that to the story,” Chris said.
He said he’s had wonderful support from his brother, family and friends. “My parents are the best, most supportive you could have,” he said.
Some of the people who have also been a big support actually made their way into the book as well. “The security guard at the library, is in the book, because he was great while we were writing.” His third grade teacher was in the book as well. “She stopped me in the hall and told me it’s the best book she’s ever read.”
There are family ties in the book as well, with the Police Chief Harry Burns named after Chris’s grandfather, who was also a police chief, and one of the teens, Lee, named after his cousin, Lee Ackerman of Portland, Ore., who designed the cover of the book.
The community has had a great response to the book since it was published in January.
“The entire fourth grade at my school is reading the book during lunch time,” Chris said. “The secretary at school said it was the quietest the lunch room has ever been.”
In addition, Jeff, of Westvale, is a member of the Tip Hill Athletic Club, which plans to buy books to give to parents with children at the prenatal care ward of Crouse Hospital, where it all began for Chris.
“I still visit there, and all the nurses remember me,” he said.
Jeff said there were other benefits to writing the book.
About six months into writing the book, Jeff was diagnosed with an illness that required surgery. He said writing the book helped him keep focused and looking ahead during that stressful time.
“I am 100 percent good as new now, but it was a hard time, and working with Chris on the book made it easier,” Jeff said.
The two authors are already working on their second book, but not willing to give away too much about the plot, although Chris did give a hint of what was to come.
“There will be dolphins,” he said.
Jennifer Wing, editor of "Syracuse Parent" and "Mother Knows Best," lives in Manlius with her husband, Eric, and children, Cassidy, 7, and Jacob, 5. She has worked at Eagle Newspapers since 2005.
Comments powered by Disqus
Posted on Thu, January 21st, 2010Written by: Jennifer Wing, Editor
email: editor@syracuseparent.net
Uncle, nephew collaborate on chapter book
Christopher Costello knows what it’s like to overcome hurdles. He and his twin brother, Brian, were born prematurely in 1999. At one pound 11 ounces, Chris was tiny, but both he and his brother rose to the challenge and haven’t looked back since.
“He and his brother were miracle babies,” his uncle, Jeff Costello said. “He’s a fighter.”
Chris, now 10, enjoys many things, including athletics, having won a total of seven gold and one silver medal in the Special Olympics, but there is one activity that he loves above all else – reading.
So when Chris’s uncle, Jeff Costello, approached him with the idea of helping him write a children’s book, he didn’t hesitate.
“I said yes – all I’ve ever wanted to do is write books.”
Actually, Jeff said, “He laughed and asked me, ‘Why, do you have writer’s block?’”
And so began a journey that the two would take together, meeting once a week at the Hazard Branch Library to discuss the turns and twists of the plot.
Chris, a fourth grader at Cherry Road Elementary School in the Westhill School District, also enjoys the outdoors and nature, so it was a natural to have the book’s main character be a prairie dog named Andy Anderson. In the story, Andy gets into a guitar that was played be one of a group of teens around a campfire. The book then tells the fish-out-of-water story of Andy in Prairie Town.
“We actually did a lot of research on the animals in the book,” Jeff said. He himself is no stranger to writing, as he has written for Table Hopping and wrote for the bi-monthly publication, Everything Irish CNY for 14 years.
“For instance, we found out that gorillas can’t swim, and we have a gorilla in the book, so we added that to the story,” Chris said.
He said he’s had wonderful support from his brother, family and friends. “My parents are the best, most supportive you could have,” he said.
Some of the people who have also been a big support actually made their way into the book as well. “The security guard at the library, is in the book, because he was great while we were writing.” His third grade teacher was in the book as well. “She stopped me in the hall and told me it’s the best book she’s ever read.”
There are family ties in the book as well, with the Police Chief Harry Burns named after Chris’s grandfather, who was also a police chief, and one of the teens, Lee, named after his cousin, Lee Ackerman of Portland, Ore., who designed the cover of the book.
The community has had a great response to the book since it was published in January.
“The entire fourth grade at my school is reading the book during lunch time,” Chris said. “The secretary at school said it was the quietest the lunch room has ever been.”
In addition, Jeff, of Westvale, is a member of the Tip Hill Athletic Club, which plans to buy books to give to parents with children at the prenatal care ward of Crouse Hospital, where it all began for Chris.
“I still visit there, and all the nurses remember me,” he said.
Jeff said there were other benefits to writing the book.
About six months into writing the book, Jeff was diagnosed with an illness that required surgery. He said writing the book helped him keep focused and looking ahead during that stressful time.
“I am 100 percent good as new now, but it was a hard time, and working with Chris on the book made it easier,” Jeff said.
The two authors are already working on their second book, but not willing to give away too much about the plot, although Chris did give a hint of what was to come.
“There will be dolphins,” he said.
Jennifer Wing, editor of "Syracuse Parent" and "Mother Knows Best," lives in Manlius with her husband, Eric, and children, Cassidy, 7, and Jacob, 5. She has worked at Eagle Newspapers since 2005.
Comments powered by Disqus