How Did I “Grow” into a Children’s Author?
The seeds…
were planted when I was young. As a child, I loved listening to and telling stories. My grandpa helped me “publish” those stories. We’d cut, fold, and staple sheets of paper. Then I’d draw pictures and dictate words for my grandpa to record. Later, I wrote my own words. I usually didn’t plan the stories ahead of time. I just kept writing and drawing until I ran out of pages. Sometimes I had to come up with some pretty quick endings!
The roots…
continued to spread underground. While I enjoyed writing and reading all through grade school and high school, the notion that I might become a professional writer didn’t germinate until college. In my final semester, I took a creative writing class for fun. During one meeting, a classmate pointed out that my main characters were always kids. When she asked, “Have you ever thought about writing children’s books?” the idea finally burst through.
The sprouts…
grew slowly. When my three children were young, I snatched an hour here and there during nap time to cultivate ideas for stories, poems, and magazine articles. I honed my craft by reading mounds of books we lugged home from the library. I also gathered ideas on our many nature walks. Finally, after years of honing my craft, I sold my first article, “Many Moons, Many Names,” to Highlights Magazine in 2005.
The blooms…
of my writing efforts came with patience and perseverance. I continued to write articles for magazines, and I began to have success publishing poems in anthologies, including Great Morning! Poems for School Leaders to Read Aloud and The Poetry Friday Anthology for Celebrations. In 2015, I received the email that all aspiring authors hope for: Charlesbridge wanted to publish my picture book poetry collection, Fresh-Picked Poetry: A Day at the Farmers' Market. Fresh-Picked Poetry went on to win the 2018 Growing Good Kids Award and 2019 Northern Lights Book Award. Since then, I’ve published other picture books, each a flower I’m grateful to share from my writing garden.
My garden…
is filled with other interests in addition to writing. I also enjoy hiking, biking, and exploring local farmers’ markets with my husband, three kids, and lazy Golden Retriever, Bear, from my home in Colorado.
Short Bio for Michelle Schaub
Michelle Schaub is an award-winning children’s author and veteran teacher. Her book Fresh-Picked Poetry: A Day at the Farmers’ Market won the 2018 Growing Good Kids Award and 2019 Northern Lights Book Award. She is also the author of Finding Treasure: A Collection of Collections, an NCTE notable poetry book for 2020, and Dream Big, Little Scientists. Her poems appear in several anthologies, including The Poetry Anthology for Celebrations and Great Morning! Poems for School Leaders to Read Aloud. Michelle speaks at conferences on the power of poetry to boost literacy and shares ways to use poetry in the classroom on her blog POETRY BOOST, www.michelleschaub.blogspot.com. Follow Michelle on twitter @Schaubwrites.
Learn more about me and my books from these online interviews: