Susan Schaefer Bernardo

One of my books is in SPACE!!! (I had to lead with that - it has been such a grand adventure!) I've been writing poems and short stories since I could hold a crayon...but I never dreamed that someday one of my stories would be read aloud by an astronaut AND the First Lady! As a former language arts teacher (BA from UCLA, MA in English Lit from Yale, teaching credentials from Pepperdine), I love playing with words and looking for ways to engage, heal and inspire kids through stories and lyrical language. To be honest...my love of words stems back from my first literary love, Dr. Seuss! The first book I read all by myself was Green Eggs and Ham - and now I write rhyming picture books! Never doubt the power of a good book. Sun Kisses, Moon Hugs was my first children's picture book -- when I teamed up with illustrator Courtenay Fletcher, a friend whom I met in a Mommy and Me class when our kids were tots! We were both struggling with grief (I was going through a painful divorce and Courtenay had just lost a dear friend to breast cancer), and we wanted to do something to reassure our kids that love is forever, even if you are physically separated from the one you love. We indie published Sun Kisses with a Kickstarter crowdfunding drive and the help of a lot of our friends and family. What a joy to see that our book is now bringing comfort to THOUSANDS of kids, and helping them feel more connected to people they love and miss! Sun Kisses, Moon Hugs was recently recommended by Amy Dickinson as a great book to help kids cope with divorce, in her nationally syndicated column Ask Amy! The book is being used by families, schools, Child Life professionals, hospitals, hospices, foster care organizations, prisons, deployed military families - and so many more. Following one dream led to another: LeVar Burton saw Sun Kisses, Moon Hugs and invited us to collaborate with him on a new picture book. The Rhino Who Swallowed a Storm, which I co-authored with LeVar and Courtenay illustrated, helps kids cope with traumatic events and realize there are helpers all around them. The Rhino Who Swallowed a Storm was selected as part of the Storytime from Space program and is currently orbiting earth aboard the International Space Station. (I even got to go to the Kennedy Space Center when they launched the rocket that carried the Cygnus spacecraft with my book aboard - and watched breathlessly when the Cygnus attached to the Space Station.) My latest picture book, The Big Adventures of Tiny House, was inspired by the tiny house movement and my own exploration of what makes a home (my parents moved frequently when I was a kid, so I know all about packing up and settling in again...and I am also a mom who went through the struggle of remaking home for my family after a divorce). And...once I realized dreams DO come true, I finally worked up the courage to write "The End" on a young adult novel I worked on for 24 years! The title is INSPIRED...and the main character is a girl named Rocket who learns to follow that creative spark in her heart (sound familiar?), with the help of some inspiring Greek Muses! In addition to writing books for kids, I'm a published poet (see The Cancer Poetry Project 2 anthology and All We Can Hold: Poems of Motherhood). I am currently working on new picture books with my amazing illustrating partner, Courtenay Fletcher (we met in a Mommy and Me class when our kids were tots!). I am a strong believer in the magical healing powers of nature and creativity! In between daydreaming and writing sessions in my backyard purple tent, I facilitate creativity workshops and stay close to my inner flower child by dancing, raising cats and chickens, traveling to museums and exotic places in search of my next idea, sculpting, painting, tide pooling and taking nature hikes with my love, my terrier, and my sons (some of these excursions led to me create the ABC Guidebooks Explores Santa Barbara Coloring Guidebook for Kids). I am so proud to be an indie author - and love playing a part in every aspect of the book-creation process (in my photos section, there's one of me at the INSPIRED press-check at the printer the day my books were printed on the big presses- so COOL to watch!). Thank you for visiting my Author Page - and for checking out my books! You can see more of what I am up to on my Susan Bernardo personal website or at my Sun Kisses, Moon Hugs page (which also has some great healing art activities to accompany the book!). xoxo