Some of my fondest childhood memories are of my daily bedtime ritual, a story reading by Momma.  As I crawled into bed, Momma thumbed through one of my favorite books, a children's story anthology, and selected an appropriate tale for the night. 

I still have that book, although it has definitely seen better days.  The binding is broken from years of being opened and closed over and over and over again.  Some of the strings holding the precious pages inside are poised to snap without a moment's notice.  Yet, the magic and wonder of the words held within the covers remain, and continue as my inspiration to become a writer.

My step into the world of writing was slow and unpredictable.  As a special education teacher for 14 years, children's literature has always been an important part of my life.  My students and I created short stories to use with my thematic units, but rarely were they saved as the school year progressed. 

The first time I made a real effort to preserve my stories came several years ago, basically as an afterthought.  As a doll costume designer, I found that my creations received more attention if they were accompanied by a tale related to the theme of the particular outfit.  One month, as I was reading an article in a doll magazine, I came across an excerpt from an interesting tale involving a doll and a handmade cradle.  As I continued to read, I realized that the story was MY story.  (I had submitted a photo of one of my ensembles, attaching my story as an explanation for the outfit.)  Although only a few paragraphs of the story were published, I had received all the incentive I needed.  I spent the next few years writing and rewriting some of my tales and submitted them for copyright.  To help with family expenses, I wrote instructional articles for doll and craft magazines, but stories remained private- available only to myself, my friends, and family. 

As you can easily see, I often tend to ramble, jumping from topic to topic.   Yet, with Chipo’s Gift (a story about a mopani worm from South Africa), my first true children’s book, I have succeeded in maintaining my focus.  I hope that readers enjoy the message contained within.