Ten reasons why "children's book author" is the best job ever
I mean, really, can you compete with this?
I love to tell people—especially kids at school visits—that I have the best job ever. And I really believe it. Here are ten reasons why.
I get to make a living (well, at least part of a living) doing some of the things I enjoy best: making up stories, writing rhymes, creating art.
Reading children’s books is literally essential for my line of work. I always tell people that if you don’t read children’s books you have no business writing them. This is also a great excuse to add children’s books to your own personal library whenever possible.
School visits are the best. Kids are often enthusiastic about meeting an author, and I especially love it when they’re super engaged and ask a lot of questions. Plus, they kind of treat you like a rock star.
Hearing kids laugh when I read my book aloud. Seriously, that’s enough to keep me going any day.
Hearing from readers. Or readers’ parents. Or their teachers. Few things brighten up my day more than a message from somone telling me about how their son loves What About Moose? so much that he cried when they had to return it to the library, how she and her child love to repeat lines from Federico and the Wolf, or how their daughter takes Mari in the Margins everywhere she goes.
People are always interested in my work once they learn what I do. I once talked with a fellow author who said she doesn’t like to answer that question, so when asked she gives a vague answer. Not me. I love talking about what I do!
Finding my book on the library shelves. Even better is NOT finding it on the shelves because it’s been checked out! I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve found one of my books on the library shelf. My picture books get checked out a lot, in my hometown library anyway!
Talking with young writers about writing and reading. Just recently I got to chat with a 10-year-old girl whose grandmother attends Bible study with me. She loves reading and writing and is even collaborating on a fantasy chapter book with a friend at school. I love cheering young writers (and illustrators) on!
Meeting other people who create children’s books. There are some really cool folks in the children’s book community, and I’ve made some good friends over the years as a result of being a part of it.
Knowing that something I worked to create—along with illustrators, editors, and other publishing peeps—will be in the world bringing smiles to children’s faces for years to come.
Bonus: Writing and illustrating for kids helps keep me young!
What do you think is (or would be) the best job ever?
A few other things:
Over at
we are more than halfway through the Wild Summer reading challenge. If you have kiddos and you’d like some fun ways to pair books with summer fun, there’s still plenty of time to jump in!I just finished reading the book The Snow Fell Three Graves Deep by Allan Wolf. This book is a masterful historical fiction novel in verse about the tragedy of the Donner party. It is heart-wrenching and beautiful, and I highly recommend it for teens and adults who enjoy having their hearts broken by words on a page.
You may remember me writing about how my hubby and I recently got into the saltwater reef aquarium hobby. And, if you read regularly, you might remember me mentioning that all of our fish had died. It was a line in this list poem about being overwhelmed, so if you missed it, I don’t blame you. Anyway, yes, the fish all died. We think it’s because one of the fish had a disease that quickly spread to the other fish, and with us being so new to the hobby, we simply didn’t figure it out in time to have a chance at saving the fish. But we’ve started again. It’s been several weeks, and so far all of the residents of the Gomez reef tank appear happy and healthy.
Some fun counting books
I thought that, since today’s post is a top ten list, I’d share a few favorite picture books that have to do with counting and numbers.
Billions of Bricks by Kurt Cyrus
Little Ewe: The Story of One Lost Sheep by Laura Sassi, illustrated by Tommy Doyle
One Dark Bird by Liz Garton Scanlon, illustrated by Frann Preston-Gannon
Counting Winter by Nancy White Carlstrom, illustrated by Claudia McGehee
Great post!! So fun!!