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“I tutor 2nd grade reluctant readers. My understanding of picture book structure and prose allows me to help them learn more than words. Rather than just read the story, we talk about it.”

“You mean I get to keep this book forever?”

…Spoken by a child in tears who was gifted with one of my books at a school visit and had never owned a book before.

“I sometimes talk to students about all the times I failed as an illustrator and writer. One day a teacher brought a young girl with her notebook to talk to me after my talk. The teacher thought she was very talented. The girl said she had always been too afraid to show anyone her work but asked me to look. I was so honored and grateful to be able to encourage her creativity and hopefully pass on some courage.“

“A friend of mine teachers fourth grade and he read one of my books to his class. After that, they drew pictures to go with the story. I now have about thirty great pictures. It is also interesting to see what the children most focused on in the story. One thing, for example, is a spider which is a rather minor character but makes a great impact.”

“When I hear kids giggle while I’m reading [my book] I feel like I’ve done the job I intended to do.“