Susan Wojciechowski

As a child

As an adult

Along with the time she spends writing, Susan makes many visits to schools, where she shows slides and talks about her books and her own life. Among the information she shares with children is the fact that, like many of them, she had no interest in writing when she was growing up. “"In regard to writing for children, I like to create realistic kid role models,” she says, “like my character Beany, who is not perfect, but tries hard.” A native of Rochester, New York, Susan now lives in Pennsylvania with her husband.

As an artist

Susan was a children’s librarian for many years. “Every December,” she says, “I read the same two or three classic Christmas stories aloud to the children. I tried to find another one I wanted to read and couldn’t. So I wrote The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey. I’ve never written anything that way before. It just came through me in a flood of inspiration and was finished in less than an hour.” The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey proved an enormous success, selling out its first printing long before Christmas Day. In addition, it won numerous awards, including the Christopher Award (USA)for “affirming the highest values of the human spirit” and the prestigious Kate Greenaway Medal, and was a finalist for a National Book Award in the USA.

Things you didn't know about Susan Wojciechowski