I have always loved books.

Before I began school, I belonged to a book club called Beginner Books from Random House. Every so often, I received a new book in my mailbox. I still remember the excitement of sliding the book out of the package and smelling that new book smell. Opening the cover for the very first time was like magic, because I never knew what adventures waited inside those pages for me.

When I began school, I read my way through all the books in my classroom. Then my teacher took me to the school library. I remember looking way up to the highest shelves and asking how many books I could take out at once. I read and read and read.

When I was in Kindergarten, I was given a book called School Days. It had pockets for mementos and places to write down the important parts of every school year. The Kindergarten section had a checklist where I could mark down what I wanted to be when I grew up. I checked the boxes for teacher and mother.

When I was a little bit older, I practiced teaching at my mini chalk board. An overturned laundry basket became my desk. I made up tests—and then I even answered and corrected them!

When I grew up, I became a teacher for real at a high school with my very own teacher’s desk. I enjoyed teaching English, Music, and Special Education.

Then another dream came true. I had three wonderful children—two girls and one boy. We made regular visits to the library where we filled our book bag to overflowing. We read and read and read.

One night, my daughter said something that flew like a spark right to my imagination. She said, “When I grow up and you grow down…” That could be the beginning of a story, I thought. And it was!

That very book—Mama’s Day with Little Gray—became my first book as a real author. Guess what? It is from Random House Children’s Books, the very same publisher that sent me my first books in the mail.

Now I am hoping that my books will make their way to you and those you love. I hope you will read and read and read together and grow up to love books your whole life long.