Stephanie Shulman is a local Momee Friend and teacher who has published two great children’s books The Nose Pickers and Monster Bash when she is not writing she is a 1st grade school teacher. Any child will love her books and I highly recommend them.

Monster Bash – “An unexpected thunderstorm during a Halloween costume party washes away a little monster’s insecurities and reveals the surprising, true identities of the other guests, allowing everyone there to learn the value of being unique.”

Monster Bash can be purchased on Amazon or at Barnes and Noble for $7.99

I had the pleasure of interviewing Stephanie and I would love to share with you all I learned about this wonderful local Long Island children’s author.

Question 1: Which book did you write first and what inspired you to write the book?

Stephanie: “I wrote Monster Bash like 15 years ago.  It was close to Halloween and I started to write a Halloween poem for my friends that lived out of state and overseas.  It was inspired by the love I had for these people who were always accepting of my many quirks.  Forty minutes later I had the first draft to Monster Bash.   I never mailed the poem to my friends and it sat in a closet for many years collecting dust.   It wasn’t until 10 years later, when I found it while I was spring cleaning, that I thought, “Hey, this would make a cute book.” The rest as they say is history. ” 

Question 2: How many kids do you have and how old are they?

Stephanie:  “I have two boys ages 4 and 7 and my other kids are the first graders I teach.  I am surrounded by literature all day and both my sons and students are obsessed with writing.  I feel really blessed that I can teach the writing process to my students.  I know that they can feel my passion for it and it inspires them.  My boys also love to write and know that I followed my dream to publish a book and they feel inspired to follow their dreams.”   

 

Question 3: Which book is their favorite and why?

    Stephanie: “I think my children like The Nose Pickers because boys like boogers and anything gross.  My students love Monster Bash.  The illustrations are so vibrant and Goldie, the main character, is so relatable.”

The Nose Pickers- “He won’t stop, it’s really gross, and she doesn’t know what to do. A mom becomes unglued as her determined son justifies his nose-picking habits. Things take a turn for the worse when an old man “picks and flicks” in this laugh-out-loud, cringe-worthy tale. “

The Nose Pickers can be purchased on Amazon or at Barnes and Noble for $7.99

 

 

  Stephanie: “The inspiration for The Nose Pickers came from the young students in my class and someone who lives in my house (not naming names) who chronically picked their nose.  They didn’t care, they wouldn’t stop, and it DROVE ME CRAZY.  One day as I watching this certain someone in my house picking their nose, instead of screaming for the hundredth time, “Stop picking”, I decided to pick up a pencil and notepad and wrote the story.  Writing down the story was so cathartic for me, I stopped being bothered by this gross act.  Now I just laugh. ” 

Question 5: When you wrote Halloween Bash was it intended to have such a positive message behind it? Was it a Halloween story or an inspirational book first?

Question 6: Will there be another book in the future?