Bio

Nancy I. Sanders grew up the youngest of seven children on a dairy farm in Everett, PA that has been in her family since before the American Revolution. Between milking the cows and driving the tractor, Nancy and her brother and sisters explored their farm in the Appalachian mountains finding arrowheads, antique railroad spikes, and fossils of seashells. Overflowing bookshelves were in every room of the 100-year-old farmhouse.

Nancy was a frequent visitor to the little library in town where the friendly librarians used to save new books that came in just for her! And when Nancy exceeded the number of books she was allowed to check out on her library card, these same librarians would pull open their drawer of library cards and hunt for another local relative whose library card hadn’t been used for awhile. Her great-Aunt Katharyn’s card was used the most to stamp Nancy’s extra books.

With memories of reading Little Women while perched up high in the branches of a tree and reading Pride and Prejudice aloud with her future sister-in-law one summer while floating on a raft in the middle of the pond, it was only natural that Nancy would develop a passion for writing children’s books. Today she is the bestselling and award-winning author of over 75 books. She is the founder and leader of the critique group CHAIRS: Christian Authors, Illustrators, and Readers Society; and writes a column for children’s writers for the The Writer online magazine. She is on faculty with the National Writing for Children Center and is the Critique Group Coordinator for her local region of SCBWI. Nancy lives in southern California with her husband Jeff (an elementary school teacher) and rambunctious cat-who-thinks-he’s-a-writer. Their two adult sons, Dan and Ben, live and work nearby.

Website: www.nancyisanders.com
Blog: www.nancyisanders.wordpress.com

BOOKS

Frederick Douglass for Kids: His Life and Times, with 21 Activities
Chicago Review Press, 2012
Awards & Honors:
Award Winning Finalist in the 2012 USA Best Books Award for Children's Nonfiction

A Dangerous Search
Series: Black Patriots in the American Revolution
Book One: From Lexington to Bunker Hill
History Compass, 2011

Black Abolitionists
(Perspectives on History)
Edited by Nancy I. Sanders
History Compass, 2011

Chino
(Images of America)
with co-authors Thomas de Martino, Jeff Sanders
Arcadia Publishing, 2011

Cut & Paste Science
Scholastic Teaching Resources, 2011

Cut & Paste Around the Year
Scholastic Teaching Resources , 2011

Yes! You Can Learn How to Write Beginning Readers and Chapter Books
E & E Publishing, 2011

America’s Black Founders
Revolutionary Heroes and Early Leaders with 21 Activities
Chicago Review Press, 2010
Awards & Honors:
2010 Winner in the children's nonfiction category for USA Book News
Honorable Mention, New England Book Festival Awards 2010

Cut & Paste Math
Scholastic Teaching Resources, 2010

Hello Hi-Lo: Readers Theatre Math
Libraries Unlimited, 2010
Co-author Jeff Sanders

Yes! You Can Learn How to Write Children’s Books, Get Them Published, and Build a Successful Writing Career
E & E Publishing, 2009
Awards & Honors:
Award-winning Finalist in the National Best Books 2009 Awards

Reader’s Theatre for African American History
Libraries Unlimited, 2008
Co-author Jeff Sanders

D is for Drinking Gourd: An African American Alphabet
Sleeping Bear Press, 2007
Illustrated by E.B. Lewis
Awards & Honors:
2007 NAPPA Honors award
2008 IRA Teachers’ Choice Award
Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People 2008
Award-winning Finalist in the National Best Books 2007 Awards
Selected for the 2011 California Collections for its Middle Grade reading list.

26 Read and Write Mini-Books that Teach the Alphabet
Scholastic Teaching Resources, 2006

25 Read and Write Mini-Books that Teach Phonics
Scholastic Teaching Resources, 2004

Grammar Manipulatives Kids Love!
Scholastic Teaching Resources, 2004

15 Easy-to-Read Nursery Rhyme Mini-Book Plays
Scholastic Professional Books, 2003

15 Math Mystery Mini-Books
Scholastic Professional Books, 2003
Co-author Sheryl Ann Crawford

15 Easy-to-Read Neighborhood and Community Mini-Book Plays
Scholastic Professional Books, 2002
Co-author Sheryl Ann Crawford

Munch and Learn Math Storymats
Scholastic Professional Books, 2002

15 Easy-to-Read Holiday and Seasonal Mini-Book Plays
Scholastic Professional Books, 2001
Co-author Sheryl Ann Crawford

25 Read and Write Mini-Books that Teach Word Families
Scholastic Professional Books, 2001
(Scholastic Bestseller, sold over 213,000 copies)

The Pet I’ll Get
Reader’s Digest Children’s Books, 2001

My Many Hats
Reader’s Digest Children’s Books, 2001

My Special Things
Reader’s Digest Children’s Books, 2001

Can’t Catch Me
Reader’s Digest Children’s Books, 2000

Off to the Fair!
Reader’s Digest Children’s Books, 2000

A Kid’s Guide to African American History
Chicago Review Press, 2000
Second Edition released 2007

15 Fun-to-Read American History Mini-Books
Scholastic Professional Books, 2000
Co-author Jeff Sanders

25 Science Plays for Beginning Readers
Scholastic Professional Books, 2000
Co-author Sheryl Ann Crawford

15 Irresistible Mini-Plays for Teaching Math
Scholastic Professional Books, 2000
Co-author Sheryl Crawford

Old Testament Days
Chicago Review Press, 1999

Marshal Matt: Mysteries with a Value Series
#1 Slippery Snacks Mystery
#2 Case of the Secret Code
#3 Topsy-Turvy Trail Mystery
#4 Puzzling Prints Mystery
#5 Case of the Freezing Fingers
Concordia, 1996-1997

Jonah: Touch and Feel
Tyndale House, 1994 

Moses: Touch and Feel
Tyndale House, 1994

To view more of Nancy’s books, please visit her site, Bookzone, at http://nancysbookzone.wordpress.com