Meet Joan Schoettler – Bold Journey Magazine

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Joan Schoettler. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Joan, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?

Finding my purpose continues to be part of my literary journey in life. While many authors share how they knew at a young age they wanted to be a writer, my interest and passion for writing came toward the end of a long, full career in education. I began teaching in elementary school, but soon decided to focus on one subject instead of teaching across the curriculum. Children’s literature? Art? Social Studies? My desire to deepen my understanding of how reading persuades, informs, and entertains led me to study children’s literature, but my curiosity and regard for art and social studies remained strong. Becoming a writer never crossed my mind.

I returned to school for a Masters in Literacy. Upon completion, I taught in the Education Department at CSU Fresno and continued as a literacy specialist in elementary classrooms. In both literacy settings, examining children’s books included; interweaving the main components of writing, exploring the art of storytelling, and focusing on the powerful, visual impact illustrators implemented to bring stories to life. We read poetry and investigated nonfiction. We studied authors, their books, and their lives. We compared different versions of biographies of the same person and various adaptations of fairytales. We studied memorable, engaging characters, universal themes, creative setting, captivating plots, and the main compontents of illustrations in children’s books.

All the time, as I taught university and elementary students, my knowledge of children’s literature grew. Picture books filled my arms as I left the library and overflowed my book cart as I entered classrooms. Wherever I traveled I visited art and historical museums, gathering knowledge of art and culture to share with children.

During these years, I guided my students, of all ages, through the writing process to write their own stories and to share their classroom-published books. Once a child asked me if I ever wrote stories. I paused. His question challenged me. I expected my students to write, but I wasn’t composing myself. A short time later, I had lunch with a well-known, prolific children’s author. I asked where inspiration for her stories came from. “Inside,” she said, “they are inside you too, Joan. You just have to let them out.”

When I finally took pen to paper, my writing journey began. Many drafts, many rejections, and many years passed before my first publication. But as I reflect on all the years I read to and with children, all the ways we studied literature together, and all the interactions with teachers and librarians along the way, I realized how my life experiences prepared and guided me to begin writing. I am honored to share my children’s books with young readers, parents, teachers, and librarians.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

In addition to spending treasured time with my family, I enjoy reading, gardening, and gathering friends around the table for a shared meal. I balance my world between the energy of big cities and the quiet of nature. Museums and art galleries, parks and gardens, and busy city life inspire me with their creativity, history, and energy. The quiet of nature which invites story ideas to plant their seeds, whether I’m writing in my garden, hiking in Yosemite National Park, biking along the Pacific Ocean, or traveling to new places.. When people ask if I have other stories I’m working on, I smile, nod, and reflect on all the manuscripts I have written over the years that are filed on my computer. Some early manuscripts should remain in my compute file, but others might catch the eye of a publisher, but whether they do or not, I know a part of me is in each story, and every manuscript sharpened my storytelling and craft.

My writing allows children to learn about the lives of people who lived in different time periods, in various countries, and to see how other families live. By sharing and talking about my writing process, I invite the children to explore their imaginations and to express themselves creatively. Providing art or writing opportunities after a reading invites the children to connect with the story, to remember unique parts, and to develop a deeper understanding of the narrative. Even while I am writing, I consider ways to incorporate art.

The Honey Jar: An Armenian’s Escape to Freedom, a middle grade verse novel, received the California Book Award, Juvenile, Gold Medal Award 2024. I have published three picture books: Ruth Asawa: A Sculpting Life (Pelican, 2018), A Home for George (Valley Children’s Publishing, 2018) and Good Fortune in a Wrapping Cloth (Shen’s Book/Lee & Low, 2012 – Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature 2013.) My middle grade manuscript, On the Run received the Sydney Taylor Manuscript Award in 2010.

I am pleased to share my two additional picture books being launched in 2025. Books Travel the World is a creative non-fiction tale sharing how some librarians travel far and wide to deliver books to readers with the hope a book will change a child’s life. (Bushel & Peck Books, July 1, 2025). A Doctor at Heart: The Story of Groundbreaking Surgeon, Scientist, and Teacher, Vivien Thomas shares the life and work of Vivien Thomas, a pioneer in heart surgery, who without any professional education, developed a groundbreaking surgical technique to correct blue baby syndrome and trained medical students and fellow surgeons. (Beach Lane Books, Summer 2025)

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Curiosity, creativity, and community continue to guide me as a writer, making me the author I am today.

My focus of curiosity in life plays a significant role in my writing. I am inspired by true people, intriguing actual events, and lived experiences of people from diverse backgrounds. Nature, different cultures, art, and events around the world invite me to learn more about others. I enjoy the research part of writing where I am immersed in worlds very different than mine. My writing represents a global view as the stories traverse the world: Armenia, Germany, Japan, Korea, Mexico, and Guatemala. Meeting new people, traveling, and exploring museums nurture my inquisitiveness. I find curiosity inspires me to learn, fosters imagination, and encourages me to grow.

Creativity embraces what I discover in research and invites me to envision new ways to share stories with children. Who is my audience? What is it that I want to share? Do I write in prose or verse? What is the plot and my point of view? Then slowly, with draft after draft, a manuscript takes shape, only to have words, scenes, and chapters written and rewritten, again and again. It is tedious, but so rewarding. Creativity and art are illuminated in my stories about nature, art, artists, and imaginative picture books for young readers. My middle grade novels reach into deeper, moving stories about growing up. I believe stories come to life when we pay attention to what we love, to those who touch our lives, and to cherished moments and experiences. Creativity connects us to ourselves.

To read more widely and to become a more proficient writer, I have surrounded myself with communities of people who engage in literacy. My critique group of over 20 years continues to encourage, provide insight, and constructive feedback. We constantly motivate and learn from each other. I would not be where I am without them. Children’s authors, teachers, librarians, book store owners and sales people weave a network of belonging, support, and endorsement too. And, of course, the delightful children are a community of their own

Classrooms demonstrate literary communities where I naturally return. Reading to children, sharing thoughts and ideas about stories, and engaging young readers in new found knowledge enrich my work. One of my favorite parts of being a children’s writer is to read my books to children in classrooms, libraries, museums, and literary events.

My community of friends outside the literary world nurture me with their friendship, shared experiences, and insightful conversations. I am grateful for their support of my writing. Curiosity, creativity, and community expand beyond my writing, they give me purpose in life too.

Before we go, maybe you can tell us a bit about your parents and what you feel was the most impactful thing they did for you?

My parents believed in education. I understood from a young age that my education would extend untiI I completed college. But I realize that what they really instilled in me is that learning is a lifelong endeavor. I carry this understanding with me in my writing, in sharing stories with young readers, and within my community.

My mother read stories from READ ME ANOTHER STORY, a book compiled by the Child Study Association of America and illustrated by Barbara Cooney. I remember many stories from this childhood favorite, and I asked my mother to read them over and over. This book influenced my love of reading, my interest in sharing stories. “One more story, please!” is repeated in each scene in BOOKS TRAVEL THE WORLD, my upcoming book, reminding me bedtime stories,

While we didn’t have a lot of books in our home, within a short distance was a library. I remember walking there, first with my mom and, then, with my school friends. The library provided books for exploring, learning, sharing, and laughing. I believe my interest in literacy, children’s books, and libraries came from my early experience with my parents and books.

My parents believed books, literacy, and education, and so do I..

Contact Info:

• Website: [email protected]
• Instagram: joan.schoettler
• Facebook: joanschoettler
• Linkedin: joan-schoettler
• Twitter: @schoettlerJoan

Image Credits

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