I was born in Southern California where my parents, four sisters and I whiled away days among avocado trees, orange trees & sunshine.  When I was nine, my family moved to a small college town in Southern Illinois. 
My dad was a Professor, and the home he and my mother created for us included lots of books, lots of scholarly colleagues, lots of pets, lots of freedom and lots of opportunities to explore life outdoors. 

As a child I ran barefoot, rode bareback, chased fireflies, climbed trees, caught crawdads in the creek, secretly raided gardens and (quite cleverly) rigged playing cards to my Huffy bicycle spokes with clothespins to create a motor sound when I pedaled. 

                                It was a lime green "boys" Huffy bicycle. 

                                                       I was cool.

I played in tune to the rhythm of seasons, and to this day find that nature and making adventure outdoors remains an important part of my creative process when writing for children.

I also spent a lot of time penning stories when I was young.  I loved to draw, and I loved books.  Here are a few samples of books I created as a child:

Because I loved making stories, my parents gave me a picture book as a gift, with this inscription:

I grew up to be an educator, like my dad.  I submitted my first story for publication in 1998 while I was teaching - author Byrd Baylor was invited to speak to the students at my school and during her talk, she also inspired me to write for children. 

My first published picture book, Way Out in the Desert, was accepted by the first publisher it was submitted to.  Beginner's luck, for certain.    
Following the success of my first publication came additional titles, including, Somewhere in the Ocean, Over in the Garden, The Seed and the Giant Saguaro, Forest Bright, Forest Night, The Little Creek, There Was a Coyote Who Swallowed a Flea, Way Up in the Arctic, and Because You Are My Baby.  

Today finds me with over 600,000 copies of my books in print.  (Only a few million left to go... but who's counting?)  With great anticipation I wait for the release of my next titles, I Love Dirt! 52 Projects to Help You and Your Kids Discover the Wonders of Nature, scheduled for May '08.  I am really excited about this book, as its focus is on getting children back out into nature.  Richard Louv wrote the foreword, and I am quite humbled.  Also in the line up is a picture book, The Busy Tree.  It's about a very busy tree!  Wait and see.  It will debut in 2009.

  
With my sister Kris, who also happens to be my BFF.  And L-R: my dad, mom, me, sister Kris, her husband Mars, & sis Deb.

In addition to writing full time, I spend a lot of time with my family - because they're amazing people, fun to be with & I love them.  I divide my time between Tucson, AZ (my home away from home) and Edwardsville, IL (my home.)