My Nonfiction

I LOVE nonfiction books—reading and writing them! I have stacks and stacks of nonfiction books in my to-be-read pile, on many subjects written for all ages. I gobble up information about nature, animals, biographies, self-help, health and wellness, folk and fairytales, European history, etc.

As for writing children’s nonfiction books, I gained a solid foundation and much valuable experience when I edited children’s nonfiction titles for Dillon Press in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I worked there for two years in the 1990s then Macmillan bought the company and all operations moved to New York. I stayed in the Twin Cities and began my freelance-writing career, writing many nonfiction books for children before branching out to fiction.

I’ve had fifteen children’s nonfiction books published (Capstone, Crestwood House, Dillon Press, and Marshall Cavendish). Reading levels of these titles range from second to sixth grade. I always enjoy becoming a “temporary expert” when I draft a nonfiction title, researching deeply and widely till I’m satisfied that I’ve gathered correct and adequate material.

I especially enjoy researching historical topics. My history professor at Augsburg University, Dr. Carl Chrislock, was an esteemed historian who’d written many books about politics and immigrants. After I wrote a lengthy paper for him, which involved much research, about women pioneers who helped settle Minnesota, Professor Chrislock told me I was the best student he’d ever had.

Also, my husband is a retired high school history teacher; he taught AP US History, US History, and World History. He’s a fantastic first reader of my history-based manuscripts; he has me revise till he’s satisfied that I’ve made the material accurate and accessible to children. In his years as a teacher, whenever he’d cover the US Colonial Era, he’d read sections of my middle grade, nonfiction book, Going to School in Colonial America, to his classes, mainly the parts about schoolhouse buildings and how students were disciplined.

My published nonfiction children’s books’ topics include U.S. states and history, Canadian culture and history, and Banff National Park. I’ve also written books about pets, famous artists, and wild animals.

My middle-grade title, The Humane Societies: a Voice for the Animals, was an International Literacy Association Children’s Choices book. It was featured in Celebrating Children’s Choices: 25 Years of Children’s Favorite Books by Arden DeVries Post (pages 115-123).

My book Van Gogh (Masterpieces: Artists and Their Works series) isn’t pictured in the photographs below. I gave my last copy to the Vincent van Gogh library in Nuenen, the Netherlands, when the curator asked me for the book.