My name is Sandra L. Valentine, but all my friends call me Sandy. I’ve spent most of my life in the beautiful hills of Dubuque, Iowa, where the seasons are vibrant, the memories are rich, and the stories just seem to grow from the land itself.

My journey into writing children’s books began naturally. I’ve always loved hosting children’s parties. When my kids were young, we held Easter egg hunts on our farm, filling the backyard with laughter and brightly colored eggs. As the family grew, so did the tradition. My husband, Bill, would load up the grandkids and their friends into a hay wagon and take them to the top of the hill that overlooked our back yard. The older kids would walk down the hill, hiding over 600 filled eggs, while the younger ones waited excitedly for their turn to hunt. Even today, while mushroom hunting, we still stumble upon forgotten plastic eggs from years past!

Halloween has always been another favorite of mine. I love that crisp, eerie feeling in the air—the rustling leaves, the early darkness. Over the years, I wrote several Halloween plays starring our kids and their friends. We staged them in our large front yard out in the country. One of the most memorable was Sleepy Hollow, complete with a headless horseman on horseback who smashed a giant pumpkin in front of the audience. We even used live rounds of black powder—perfectly safe, of course—to create a booming flash that left everyone in awe.

These joyful and imaginative family experiences sparked the inspiration for my books. I began to see each of my grandchildren as characters in little stories—a dancing bunny in search of something special, a wild-haired girl who never wanted to brush her hair, or two boys who go fishing and are distracted by a curious bee. Each story is rooted in love, observation, and the little quirks that make my grandchildren so special.

That’s how it all started—and I hope it never ends.