From Teaching to Writing
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TeachingBooks asks each author or illustrator to reflect on their journey from teaching to writing. Enjoy the following from Jennifer Ward.
On Teaching and Writing
by Jennifer Ward
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I loved books as a child. I loved the solitary immersion with them and the feeling of transcending time and space with each story or illustration. With a book, it felt as if the whole world stopped and all that existed was that moment with that book. Having four sisters, I took claim on my favorites – writing my name repeatedly on covers, on the inside of covers, and even posing as my parents and inscribing them to myself: “To Jenny, for being such a nice girl. Love, Mommy and Daddy”. I would even play “library” and check my personal books out to myself.
Even with all my book love, I’m not sure any of my teachers in grade school envisioned that I would become an author one day. Some kids are born readers and writers and pick up the needed skills quickly. I wasn’t one of those students. My first-grade report card, which I still have, reads, ‘Needs help with alphabet ID and letter sounds/Needs extra help at home’. My second-grade report card is marked, “Needs Improvement”. I definitely was below the reading and writing skill level of my classmates in grade school – to my credit, I never attended Kindergarten and was a year younger than most of my classmates… I may not have been a standout reader or writer, but I did have books of my own that I could read and enjoy, even if all I could read were the illustrations. Because of picture books, I was inspired to practice writing and illustrating my own stories when I was young. Books sparked my creativity, and with that, I started getting a lot of writing practice. My books were far from perfect, but my parents loved them and saved them all – even the one that served as a coffee coaster for someone!
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As a teacher, I wanted my students to have as many experiences with books as they could. A section of my classroom always housed a cozy, inviting space where students could enjoy them. With every lesson plan, I integrated picture books that shared the concepts and skills we were exploring. Picture books served as a springboard for discovery, providing a foundation for inquiry about the world around us. They made us curious and helped students form questions. Today, as an author, I am always forming questions about my topic. It’s part of my writing process. Books may also serve as mentor texts to guide with writing. They pack a lot of power!
As a teacher, I met my very first author when Byrd Baylor agreed to visit our school. I was so excited! Byrd’s visit made me see the real possibility of creating children’s books someday. Not long after, a mentor text gave me an idea for a story. I wrote my first manuscript, researched how to get a children’s book published, submitted my story to a publisher and was offered my first book contract. Talk about beginner’s luck! That was in 1996 and that book is still in print today.
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Today, as a fulltime author, I still channel my inner teacher when writing. I am surrounded by children’s books, and just as teachers create word walls in their classrooms for students to use for reference when writing, I create a word bank about a topic when I write a book. Then, I piece together my word choices to introduce scientific concepts in a fun way, while also making the concepts relatable and wondrous. That’s my end goal, anyway! Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t!
In my latest book, Sleepy: Surprising Ways Animals Snooze, illustrated by Robin Page (Simon & Schuster/ Beach Lane Books, 2024), readers discover that something as basic as sleep is an amazing phenomenon in the wild. How does a whale, for example, both sleep and swim so it may reach the water’s surface when it needs to breathe? As a child, this is the exact type of book I would have read, even if I couldn’t read the text, thanks to Robin’s remarkable and detailed illustrations. I can’t believe this is my 29th published book! I’ve come a long way since the coffee coaster book – back where it all started – all because of a book.
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Books and Resources
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TeachingBooks personalizes connections to books and authors. Enjoy the following on Jennifer Ward and the books she’s created.
Listen to Jennifer Ward talking with TeachingBooks about the backstory for Sleepy: Surprising Ways Animals Snooze. You can click the player below or experience the recording on TeachingBooks, where you can read along as you listen, and also translate the text to another language.
- Listen to Jennifer Ward’s name pronunciation
- Enjoy the discussion guide for Sleepy
- Discover Jennifer Ward’s page and books on TeachingBooks
- Visit Jennifer Ward on her website, X (Twitter), Instagram, Facebook, and GoodReads page
Explore all of the For Teachers, By Teachers blog posts.
Special thanks to Jennifer Ward and Simon & Schuster for their support of this post. All text and images are courtesy of Jennifer Ward and Simon & Schuster and may not be used without expressed written consent.
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