Esther Jantzen

Esther Jantzen was born in 1945 in Los Angeles and as a toddler went to India with her older brother and her Mennonite missionary parents. Her grade school and high school education was at Woodstock School, an international boarding school in the Himalayan foothills. Returning to the US, she earned a BA in English at Bethel College in central Kansas. Her working career was primarily as a high school teacher in Philadelphia, and during those years, she completed both her MA in Psychology of Reading and an Ed.D. in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at Temple University in Philadelphia. She was selected Teacher of the Year for the Philadelphia School District in 1986. When Jantzen took early retirement and moved to Southern California, she became interested in parenting education and family literacy. She created the Way to Go! Family Learning Journal in 2006, a program for elementary schools to use in assisting young parents to practice strategies in the home that help children become better readers and learners (now out of print). She published Plus It! How to Easily Turn Everyday Activities into Learning Adventures for Kids in 2009, a book of easy-to-apply ideas for parents, babysitters, grandparents, and others caring for children. That paperback is available on Amazon. After walking the ancient 500-mile pilgrimage, the Camino de Santiago, in Spain in 2008, her life took a turn. She traded homeownership for the life of a nomadic house sitter, exploring towns and cities throughout the American Southwest and Pacific Coast states, and traveling frequently in Europe. That experience is summed up in Happy Without a Home: Advice from a House-Sitting Nomad, published as an ebook in 2018. This book is presently being revised and expanded, and is not available online. Her most recent book is WALK: Jamie Bacon’s Secret Mission on the Camino de Santiago, published in 2020. A novel for pre-teens, it is the story of the missteps, adventures, and heroism of an 11-year-old boy who walks the pilgrimage with his home-schooling family. __________________________________ Praise for WALK: Jamie Bacon’s Secret Mission on the Camino de Santiago "A captivating adventure story involving history, legends, serendipity, loss, and surprise. I was swept away with the excitement of Jamie's quest across Spain. I had a celebratory glass of wine in my hand I as I walked into the Cathedral with Jamie! A book for young and old alike that brings alive the uniqueness of the unforgettable Camino de Santiago experience. I absolutely loved it." —Adam Wells, Life Transition Coach, Camino Mentor and Pilgrim "WALK ...was beautifully and sensitively written...[and] richly deserves to be read and enjoyed by many." —John Brierley, Author, "A Pilgrim's Guide to the Camino de Santiago” “An entertaining and informative journey of discovery, both inner and outer.” —Kirkus Review "I love the book. It follows a grand, fascinating tradition in children's literature of using fictional journeys to convey information. The best ones have plenty of drama along the way. And WALK has that! I cried at the end." —Linnea Hendrickson, Children's Librarian, Scholar, Pilgrim “WALK is a great read. For kids, for walkers, for history buffs, for readers. Here are surprising glimpses into history, religion, architectures, archaeology, geography, family relations, all within a beautiful framework of adventure, mystery, and discovery. Jamie as a reluctant participant is a familiar, accessible character for young readers (and older ones, too). His literal travel, step by step across Spain, becomes a journey motif through time, space, ideas and assumptions, toward awareness of self and others. This book is simply well done, intriguing, full of information and complexity but always firmly centered in the real journeys of the characters.” —Catharine Roth, College Instructor and Writer