Shannon Cook loves reading books with her two young children – especially those with holiday or seasonal themes. But when she found a lack of Earth Day offerings, she took matters into her own hands.
“We’ve always had a real love for Earth Day because my husband works in green energy and does hydropower,” Cook says. “(And) I was looking for a book that had a bit of a spiritual element to it.”
Being a passionate writer herself, she began asking fellow writers for recommendations, but it seems nothing existed that fit. So, Cook decided to write one.
This March, Cook made her authorial debut with I Made the Earth. Its colorful illustrations and rhyming storyline help teach young readers about the importance of taking care of the Earth.
Erica Manning
Chapter 1: Her story begins
Cook grew up in Pickerington and only left for the four years she attended college at the University of Dayton.
There, she earned a degree in secondary education with a concentration in English, theater and speech before returning to Pickerington to become an English teacher and theater director at Pickerington Central High School.
As a Central alum, Cook began working alongside the very people who had imbued her love of school. She taught there for 10 years, but after having kids, it became difficult to balance being a teacher, theater director and mom.
“By the time I had my third baby, it was impossible to do both,” Cook says. “(My job) was teaching class, it was afternoons for rehearsals. It was weekends building scenery. … So I resigned from that job and then I started writing kind of in earnest within about a year of staying home.”
Chapter 2: Putting pen to paper
Cook’s first book was a historical fiction novel for ages 8 to 12. Cook took inspiration from her grandmother’s diary, who grew up in Indiana during the Great Depression. The story shares the coming-of-age of three young girls in the 1930s.
Hesitant to publish, Cook put her energy into developing her writing skills and attended writing conferences where other writers provided feedback.
In fall 2021 at one of these critiquing sessions, Cook met best-selling author and award-winning journalist Michelle Medlock Adams, who reviewed a draft of her Earth Day book.
“When I got to meet her in person, she had so many wonderful things to say about it,” Cook says. “So I asked her at the end of the meeting, ‘OK, tell it to me straight. Am I gonna write this book or are you gonna write this book? I’m perfectly happy with either.’ And she said, ‘You’re gonna write it and I’m going to endorse it.’”
Before she knew it, Cook had a literary agent who was helping her negotiate the terms of a contract with End Game Press, Adams’ publisher, and I Made the Earth was published.
Chapter 3: Support and hope
Once it was printed, Cook took her book everywhere. From private Christian schools to radio shows and podcasts, she told people not only about the book but why it was important.
“I love to talk about my heart behind the book,” she says. “This idea of partnering with people and caring for the earth and conservation, and just not having our head in the sand anymore about what’s happening with the environment.”
As she has jumped into the publishing world, Cook’s family and community are a major part of what helped make this journey so successful, she says.
“Pickerington is just such a supportive community,” Cook says. “I was amazed when I had my launch party just how many people from town came. And it was people I have known for a long time and living in this community has always been really wonderful.”
With I Made the Earth out in the world, Cook has turned her attention back to the first book she wrote – now titled The Girls of Hope series – with the desire of publishing it soon.
Although she has plans for many more titles – including another children’s book about Valentine’s Day – Cook says she will never forget her first book and hopes her readers won’t either.
“Kids really are the hope,” she says. “If we can help them to understand when they’re young that they’re responsible for things and that they have the power to make real change when they’re young, I feel like that’s a whole generation of people that can make a really big difference.”
Shannon Cook isn’t the only writer in her family, as she has inspired her 15-year-old daughter, Anna, to write her own book. After attending a writer’s conference with her mom, Anna also signed with End Game Press. Her book Brynn and Amir and the Magic Map is coming out later this year.
Rachel Karas is an editor at CityScene Media Group. Feedback welcome at rkaras@cityscenemediagroup.com.
