TODD TUELL
Books, Magazines, etc.
Growing up, most of the books I read were sports almanacs, the Guinness Book of World Records, and picture books by Dr. Seuss. The one book I remember from my childhood that was my own was The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins.
The books given to me as a teenager were the classics from Twain and Tolkein to Dickens and Dumas. I didn't even realize at the time that there was a category of literature for teens. I always loved reading, but I only discovered a love for children's books for the first time as an adult when I had kids of my own.
When my own children were tiny, I fell head-over-heels for the board books of Sandra Boynton (our favorite was Barnyard Dance) and the picture books of Doreen Cronin (Click Clack Moo, Cows that Type).
As my kids grew, so did my appreciation of each age category and genre in children's literature. It was this connection with my kids as we experienced amazing stories and beautiful illustration that led me to choose this industry as my vocation.
With each book I read, I caught myself thinking one of two things:
1. "Yeah, I could do that!" after reading the majority of books;
OR
2. "No, I could NEVER do that!" after reading a book like A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park.
Then I came across a book by Richard Peck called A Year Down Yonder. After reading it, all I could think to myself was, "I have to do this!" I was hooked and haven't looked back.
Just as my love spans all age classifications, so does my writing for children. I've written board books and picture books; chapter books, middle grade and young adult novels. I've written fiction and nonfiction; books, articles and short stories. And I write parenting and literacy articles and essays too.
The vast majority of what I've written is still waiting to find it's "publishing" home. You can see some of my writing at the links to the right.
