I started collecting children’s books when I was very young. I find that good children’s books have a sort of magic. I now have an enviable collection of beautiful, profound, and entertaining picture books.

I received my bachelor’s degree of fine arts from the University of Utah with an emphasis in theater and have told stories on stage from Utah to NYC.

I began writing and illustrating children’s books when my own children were little. They would ask a question like “How did the moon lose its colors?” or “Where is ‘away’?” and I would write a book for our bedtime stories. One of their favorites was a series of stories I would make up nightly about an alien they befriended and traveled around the world with while saving various animals from human-made problems.

When my children were in elementary school, the school didn’t have an art teacher and so I volunteered for seven years teaching art classes every Monday. Usually, the art class centered around storytelling, and we often took their favorite picture book and made a play out of it. Sometimes they would write and illustrate their own story or storyboard a plot that we would make into a movie.

I am also a social worker. I work for Salt Lake County Youth Services. My favorite part of the job is when I get to read bedtime stories to our clients and the saddest part is when I am the first person in their life to have done that.

Now that my children are all in college, I have time to take on other contributions in the world. I have created a game called ‘Happily Ever After’ and I’m inviting you to play with me. The game is that all children have the opportunity to be wowed by a book.

As an avid gardener also, I believe in planting seeds early.