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Shannon Olsen Books In Order

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Publication Order of Picture Books

Our Class is a Family (2020)Description / Buy at Amazon
A Letter From Your Teacher (2021)Description / Buy at Amazon
Our School is a Family (2023)Description / Buy at Amazon

Shannon Olsen
Shannon Olsen was born and raised in Southern California, and is a mother of two daughters, a wife, and a second-grade teacher. She is also a self-published author and an entrepreneur.

Before becoming an author, she got her BA in English and an MA in Teaching from the University of California Irvine. She has taught in the classroom for fifteen years.

Starting in her twelfth year of teaching, she became what has been coined as a “teacher-preneur”. She creates and sells downloadable resources for elementary teachers to use in their classrooms and does so through her self-started business brand, Life Between Summers.

She came up with the name for her brand by asking herself what is something all teachers like? First thing that popped into her mind was summer vacation. Things like finished report cards, coffee, and kids came to mind. But summer vacation just made her think of teaching as “life between summers”.

From a young age, she has dreamt of becoming an author. On the inside cover of her freshman high school yearbook, there was a big fill in the blank which said “Your big dream is…” Her dreams when she was fourteen was being an author, traveling the world, and having kids one day.

Her interest in writing books most likely comes from her love of reading from when she was a kid. Her dad visited her class as a guest to read a story, and told her students that she used to carry a book around with her everywhere that she went. This love of reading led to a love of writing as well. She’d write her own stories, just for fun as a child.

Her favorite children’s book while growing up was Matilda by Roald Dahl. Shannon related to Matilda’s love of reading and admired her cleverness and determination, particularly when she was faced with challenges in her school and home life. Miss Honey is one of the coolest teachers of all time.

While she was inspired to write her first book, “Our Class is a Family”, felt like the perfect chance to realize her dream. More importantly, it was a way to help serve her fellow educators at the exact same time. It was the kind of book that she wanted to read to her students.

Shannon got inspired to write the book at the start of one school year. On the first day of school, one thing she tries to do in order to try and begin building community early on is to tell her students that their class is like a family. While doing back to school read alouds, she wished she had a book which expressed the idea that their class is a family. It didn’t exist, and she looked. She figured that other teachers would want to read it, since she wanted to read it to hers. She decided to just go for it and wrote one of her own.

Upon release, it became a number on New Release and a number one Best Seller, and earned a spot on Amazon’s Top 20 chart.

“Our Class is a Family” is a picture book that was released in the year 2020. Teachers do far more than merely teach academics. They also build a sense of community within their classrooms, creating a home away from home where they allow their students to feel loved, safe, and included.

With its heartfelt message and colorfully whimsical illustrations, this is a book that is going to help build and strengthen that class community. Kids learn about how it is important to be a friend to each other, that their classroom is a place where it is safe to fully be themselves, and it is okay to make mistakes. When hearing this story being read aloud by their teacher, students are certain to feel like they are a part of a special family.

This is a sweet book to share with your students at the start and end of the school year. It brings home all of the feelings about what a classroom family’s really like. It is a place that you get to be yourself, where you can celebrate what makes everybody unique, and love and respect one another.

“A Letter From Your Teacher: On the First Day of School” is a picture book that was released in the year 2021. This heartwarming picture book helps teachers in welcoming their new group of students on the first day. Through a letter written from the teacher’s perspective, kids are given the message that their new teacher is somebody that they will get to form a special bond with. Their teacher is not just there to help them academically, but also to cheer them on, and to provide a caring and safe environment for them to grow and learn.

During the back to school period, teachers are wanting to set the tone for the new year. Along with establishing procedures and rules, they’re prepared to get to know their students and begin building some positive relationships. This is a read aloud book which helps with laying such a foundation, and serves as a great jumping off point for get-to-know-you activities and class community building.

There is also a blank page on the last page for teachers to sign their own name, so students know that the letter in this book comes straight from them.

With its inclusive illustrations and sincere message, this is a valuable addition to any elementary school teacher’s classroom library.

The book is told in the voice of a teacher, and the rhyming text captures the hopes, feelings, and expectations of a new school year. It is a perfect book for your first week back in school and a great way to build up a positive learning environment in your class.

Shannon does a fantastic job of capturing the heart of every teacher, and put into words what any teacher would like to say each day to the many kids that are in their class. And the illustrations are just as beautiful as the story that is being told. It is a great way to build your classroom family and community.

Book Series In Order » Authors » Shannon Olsen

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