ABOUT

Jody Jensen Shaffer is an award-winning poet and the author of more than 70 books of fiction and nonfiction for children, including PRUDENCE THE PART-TIME COW, a Missouri Show Me Award finalist for 2019-2020 and Missouri’s choice for the National Book Festival in 2017, A CHIP OFF THE OLD BLOCK, nominee for the 2021-2022 Iowa Goldfinch Award, IT’S YOUR FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL, BUSY BUS!, an Amazon best-seller and Amazon Prime Book Box pick for September 2019, EMERGENCY KITTENS!, WHO IS JACKIE CHAN? and more. Jody’s poetry and fiction have been published in magazines like Highlights, Ladybug, and Clubhouse Jr. Jody lives in Liberty, Missouri, with her family. When she’s not writing, Jody can be found spending time with family and walking her rescue dog, Sophie. You can find Jody online at jodyjensenshaffer.com and on Twitter @jodywrites4kids.

From Jody:
I grew up the youngest of three kids in a northern Missouri college town, where my dad taught anatomy and physiology and my mom taught at the local elementary school. I earned my Bachelor’s in English from William Jewell College and my Master’s in English from Truman State University. After 12 years in the business world, I left to raise my children, and that’s when I fell in love with children’s literature.

-2017 Presenter, Kansas Book Festival

-2018 Mentor, Picture Book Writing With the Stars

-2018, 2019 Presenter, nErDcampKS

-2018 #KidsNeedMentors mentor

-2019, 2020, 2021 PBCritiqueFest mentor

-2020 nErDcampPA panelist

-2021 KS/MO SCBWI “Writing for Children’s Magazines”

Interviews:

Kids Author Stays Busy This Fall, Winter Courier-Tribune, January 2019

Liberty author honored by national magazine with Courier-Tribune June 8, 2017
March 2017 interview with Johnson County Library
Book Q&As with Deborah Kalb
Sharon Chriscoe’s Picture Book of the Month, June 2017

10 random facts about me:

1. I am endlessly fascinated by the natural world.
2. I try to walk for exercise most days.
3. I like dogs. A lot.
4. I am a member of two long-term writing groups. We give one another feedback about our stories.
5. I prefer a hoodie over a sweater, tennis shoes over heels.
6. The one food I can’t live without is peanut butter.
7. I love laughing and funny people and things.
8. I can sing the names of the 50 states in alphabetical order. I can sing the preamble to the constitution.
9. I remember the exact moment I learned how to read.
10. I loved being a kid.