Please click the link below for About the Author printouts for elementary school use:

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My Story

Kelley Donner knew she wanted to be an artist as a little girl. She grew up on a farm in rural Kansas where she fell in love with the endless horizon, warm sunsets, and miles and miles of telephone lines.

After receiving her Bachelor of Arts in Art, a Bachelor of Arts in German, and a teaching degree, Kelley went on to work as an English, Art, Piano, and Science Teacher in both primary and secondary schools in the United States and Europe. She has a Masters of Art in Illustration and Book Arts from the Cambridge School of Art at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, UK.

Before becoming a mother to three wonderful boys, she was the District Manager of Instruction for 13 Berlitz language schools in North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany where she supervised over 300 teachers, wrote diverse ESL curriculum and handbooks, taught public speaking and gained experience in marketing and sales.

Kelley has continued her love of art and has exhibited in both the United States and Germany. She began writing and illustrating children’s books after she became a mother and discovered her love for children’s literature and illustrations. Her first children’s book Ball! Ball! Ball! A Picture Book to Inspire Sensory Awareness was published in June 2019 and became a bestseller on Amazon.com in Special Needs Children’s Health.

In 2020 Kelley’s children’s book The Day the Lines Changed went on to sell over 5,000 copies and was featured in the Washington Post as one of the top ten children’s books about the pandemic. Along with A Very Corona Christmas and Little Jack Thomson’s Magnificent Brain, Kelley was the top selling self-published author in the Society of Children’s Books Authors and Illustrators in the British Isles in 2020.

In 2021 Kelley moved with her family (her husband and three boys) from Cambridge, England to Munich, Germany where she continued to write and illustrate as well as offer consulting services to new authors. In 2023, she founded StorybookWalk.com.

Published Books:

  • Run, Oscar, Run! - published 03/12/2024

    Run, Oscar, Run!:Storybook Walk/Run Edition - published 03/14/2024

  • Freedom to Read - published 07/06/2023

    Freedom to Read: Storybook Walk Edition -published 09/14/2023

    Books against book banning 2023

  • An Elf Erased My Picture - published 10/27/2022

    Joint illustration with Kelley’s children Max (age 8) and Lukas (age 11)

  • School is More Than a Building - published 05/27/2021

    Amazon.com bestselling new release in various categories (June 2021)

    School is More Than a Building: Spanish Edition - published 03/27/2024

    School is More Than a Building: Storybook Walk Edition - published 07/12/2023

    School is More Than a Building: Storybook Walk Spanish - published 03/17/2024

    School is More Than a Building: Storybook Walk Spanish/English - published 03/07/2024

    School is More Than a Building: Storybook Walk German/English - published 05/10/2024

  • A Very Corona Christmas: Santa Stays Home - published 10/23/2020

    Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk Bestseller in various categories (Nov 2020), Amazon.com Hottest New Releases for Christmas 2020.

  • Wie sich die Linien änderten: Eine inspirierende Kindergeschichte über das Coronavirus  - published on 5/18/2020

    Amazon.de Bestseller: Literatur zur Vorbereitung auf Notfälle für Kinder (June 2020)

  • The Day the Lines Changed: An Inspiring Story about a Line, a Pandemic, and How Change Shapes Us All  - published on 3/21/2020         

    Amazon.com/Amazon.co.uk Bestseller: Children’s Disaster Preparedness and Children’s Books on Sociology (May, July, August 2020)

    Featured in the Washington Post as one of the top ten children’s books about the pandemic.

  • Little Jack Thomson’s Magnificent Brain - published on 1/31/2020

    Amazon.co.uk Bestseller: Children’s Books on E&E (March 2020)

  • Little Jack Thomson’s Magnificent Brain Coloring Book - published on 1/31/2020

    Accompanying book to Little Jack Thomson’s Magnificent Brain

  • Ball! Ball! Ball!: A Picture Book to Inspire Sensory Awareness - published on 5/15/2019

    Amazon.com Bestseller: Children’s Health, Special Needs (June 2019)

Articles:

Speaking Engagements:

  • Keynote speaker - International Association of School Librarians

    Topic: (Mis)understanding Picture Books: The psychology behind the book

    IASL Annual Conference 2021, Texas, USA