Recently, whenever I visit my mom's house, long-lost things come out of the woodwork for me to take back home. An old toy, a box of books, sometimes things that weren't even mine to begin with, but instead belonged to one of my sisters. On my last trip home, I sorted through three giant boxes of old photos and papers and uncovered some of my earliest writing (along with MANY photos of myself with unfortunate haircuts and goofy smiles). I guess I've been an author-illustrator from the start because I've taken the time to pair my words with a finely rendered pencil drawing! I present to you, dear reader, Snow Day, written and illustrated by me, age seven.

My poor teacher gave up trying to correct my creative spelling choices half way thorugh the paper. It's amazing how everything and nothing has changed. I still can't spell and drawing hands is still hard but I wish I could talk to this younger version of myself and tell her to keep going! Keep writing and keep drawing. It will take you to some amazing places... and ignore what your teachers tell you about not being able to spell, because despite what they say, you will in fact always have a computer in your pocket that can correct your terrible spelling, they just don't know that yet.