I’ve always been a reader. I started reading when I was four years old. I was a quiet, shy girl and books were my friends. My favorite day each week was Library Day at school. I’d come out with an armful of books. They were my “doorway” to the world. Through these books, I could ride in a covered wagon with Laura Ingalls, fight crime with Nancy Drew, or be a scientist and learn new things about plants and animals.

Books are like oxygen for me. I need them and they are in every room of my house. Through all of life’s twist and turns, reading has been my constant.

When I became a Mom, I rediscovered children’s books and realized I wanted to be more than a reader—I wanted to write. In fact, I wanted to write for children.