Books for Kids Photograph by Esther Njuguna One of my favorite things I've ever done was to teach elementary school art. I started doing that back in Western Massachusetts, in the small towns of Leverett, Shutesbury, New Salem, Wendell and Erving. If any of my former students finds this page, it would be wonderful to hear from you! More recently I have loved doing art projects with kids at Camp ALWAYS in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Not only do I do my own artwork in my studio in Northern California, I have also been writing children's books. It's probably not at all surprising that one of my middle grade novels is about an aspiring artist, and another about an aspiring writer. In one of my picture books, Jacob wants more than anything to become a musician. Some unexpected things happen along the way. Speaking of surprises, in another story, Paolo thinks nothing special ever happens in his small mountain village in Italy. But one day things turn out a little differently. My dogs and cats keep managing to find their way into my stories too! I love going to children's book writing conferences, especially SCBWI's Golden Gate conference by the sea. Lately I've been receiving very encouraging letters and messages from editors and agents, and I hope that soon I'll have good news to share about having my books published. In the meantime, I'll keep writing. Stay tuned for more!