Nancy Luenn

Nancy Luenn grew up in an untidy house full of books, cats and children. “From the time I first learned to read,” she reports, “I was a bookworm. My family didn’t have a television, so my mother read aloud to us each evening. The books I remember the best are the magical ones, like The Hobbit, the Narnia books and Lloyd Alexander’s books about Prydain. I also loved books about animals.”

“My brothers and I told each other stories in the games we played. We created worlds for our toys to inhabit and cities full of paper mice. My friends and I put on plays for our families. We pretended the pond in my yard was the ocean and rowed across it to England in a boat named Pooh.

“As I grew older, too old to play with toys, I learned to play with words instead. In high school, I kept a journal and wrote poetry. When I started writing children’s books, I discovered I knew a lot about writing already, because of the books I had read as a child and the games I had played with my brothers and friends.”

Growing up in Los Angeles, Nancy learned to treasure the natural world on camping trips to the mountains and deserts of California, and through frequent visits to museums and the zoo. Her parents taught her the names of plants and animals, and how to be respectful of the earth. Concern for the health of our planet inspired her book Mother Earth.

Nancy Luenn earned her B.A. from The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington. While at Evergreen, she pursued her interests in art, education and natural history. She became an avid whitewater kayaker, learned to ski and rock climb, and lived in a tipi. Nancy began writing children’s books the summer before her last year of college while working for the U.S. Forest Service.

Ms. Luenn’s books for children range from picture books to young adult novels. They reflect her interest in folklore and mythology, history, and other cultures, fantasy and the natural world.

“Writing teachers advise to ‘write what you know.’ I write about the ideas that compel me. Usually that means a lot of research. For Nessa’s Fish and Nessa’s Story, I read Arctic expedition reports and talked to experts about wolves and bears. For Goldclimbers I visited a metal-working lab. And for Squish! A Wetland Walk, I studied and visited wetlands. This is a part of the process I always enjoy.”

A Horse’s Tale was proposed as a book for the 1988 celebration of Washington’s statehood centennial. Since Parenting Press publishes non-fiction almost exclusively, they felt the need for an experienced children’s author to edit the stories. Nancy was approached and agreed to act as editor to bring the ten stories together as a single book. Nancy worked with the authors and with Parenting Press to bring out the book in record time.

Nancy Luenn is a frequent guest speaker at schools and conferences in Washington, Oregon and Alaska. She has visited schools in Venezuela and taught workshops for teachers in Australia. At home, she writes on a regular basis, and is usually working on several new books. She enjoys gardening, skiing, reading, listening to opera, and canoeing on lakes and whitewater rivers. She and her husband live with their cats in Yakima, Washington.

Nancy presents lectures and workshops for students, teachers, librarians and writers. She is available for single and multiple day workshops, as well as a limited number of single session and half day programs. For fees, scheduling guidelines and references, contact her through Parenting Press.

Parenting Press
A Horse’s Tale (editor)

Atheneum
(an imprint of
Simon & Schuster)
Squish! A Wetland Walk
Nessa's Story
Song for the Ancient Forest
Mother Earth
Goldclimbers
Nessa's Fish
Unicorn Crossing
Arctic Unicorn

Harcourt Brace
The Dragon Kite

Libros Colibrí
(an imprint of
Simon & Schuster)
El Cuento de Nessa
La Pesca de Nessa

Little, Brown & Co.
The Ugly Princess