Nancy Atkins

The niece of a children’s librarian, Nancy was surrounded by “discarded” children’s picture books long before she could read. Although the pages were torn and the bindings worn, these books were a gold mine to her and she spent hours pouring over their pictures and making up her own stories. By the time she started school, Nancy knew she wanted to be a writer. With a lifelong passion to share her love of reading and writing with children, Nancy has spent hundreds of hours in the classroom working one-on-one with students and leading entire classes through fun workshops—from writing and illustrating their own picture books, to discovering the creative process of authors, to publishing classroom toy catalogs that incorporate writing, drawing, and STEM skills. A graduate of the Institute of Children’s Literature, Nancy also has a BA degree in Journalism. She’s developed curriculums for reading readiness in primary grades and English as a second language course for adults, is a published poet, and writes picture books for children in both prose and rhyming verse. With three grown children and a grandson, she has plenty of inspiration for creating stories that children love to hear again and again. When she’s not writing, Nancy enjoys being in nature—hiking, riding her bike, and being on the water. She also loves making art creations she shows (and sometimes sells!) at local Farmers Markets. Originally from New Jersey, Nancy and her husband split their time between Washington and Kauai.