Sherri Duskey Rinker is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Steam Train, Dream Train and the Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site series (eight picture books and counting!). She is also the author of young middle novel Revver the Speedway Squirrel and its sequel, a brand new picture book series that kicks off with Roto and Roy: Helicopter Heroes, and nonfiction picture book biography Big Machines: The Story of Virginia Lee Burton, which received starred reviews from Kirkus and Booklist. Burton and her work directly influenced Sherri’s foray into the world of children’s literature.

Sherri lives in the Midwest with her husband, two sons, and one fluffy dog. She loves to read, collect antique oil paintings, cook, garden, and travel. Inspired by her sons, her 25-year career as a graphic designer, and her own childhood memories, Sherri writes from a place of love. She hopes to encourage young readers and make the world a happier place, one book at a time.

I cherish the time I have spent reading with my kids - cozied up together, experiencing stories through their eyes. Although our shelves were stocked full of books, they were (and are) the one thing I could never refuse or resist buying.

I will forever hold dear memories of chubby little fingers poking through "Mommy's ring" of Pat the Bunny, or kissing sleepy, sweet-smelling little heads while we read Goodnight Moon together. I want my sons to remember their childhoods as I will, filled with Curious George, the adventures of Paddington and Berenstain Bears and of learning to read with the whimsy of Dr. Seuss or the soft silliness of Frog and Toad.

Pictures and Words

Thanks to my grandmother and Virginia Lee Burton, I had an early passion for picture books. My grandmother read to me. Virginia Lee Burton inspired me through the whimsical, beautiful pages of The Little House and Mike Mulligan.

At age five, I decided I would be an artist. Later, my fourth grade teacher immersed me in verse, and I fell deeply in love, proudly declaring that I would be a poet. In high school, I had a gifted, inspiring art teacher and, for a bit, I thought that I’d like to teach art. I ended up starting college as a journalism major with a minor in art history, but graduated with a degree in graphic design: a field where, ironically, I spent my days composing words and pictures.

And now, I find myself back where I began: picture books. And, truly, it feels like home.

Together, my oldest son and I read every Magic Treehouse, the entire Spiderwick collection, all seven books of Harry Potter, and dozens-upon-dozens of others. My youngest son devoured The Mouse and the Motorcycle, Diary of A Wimpy Kid, Big Nate, Stick Dog and nearly every nonfiction book about trucks, trains and car racing ever written.

The bonding experience of reading together, the exposure to art through the artistry of picture books, hearing the rhythms of sounds and syllables, hearing the poetry in the prose, exploring worlds beyond our own — that is, for me, the unequalled magic of books.

How This All Began

In 2008, in the midst of hectically trying to manage the demands of being a working mom in a career I no longer loved, I wrote Construction Site, and it was picked up by the first publisher to whom it was sent (Thank you, Chronicle! It’s the literary equivalent of winning the lottery, I realize.) It's been an unexpected and wonderful journey, and I’m deeply grateful.

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