One of my books is in SPACE!!! (I had to lead with that - it has been such a grand adventure!) I've been writing poems and short stories since I could hold a crayon...but I never dreamed that someday one of my stories would be read aloud by an astronaut AND the First Lady!

As a former language arts teacher (BA from UCLA, MA in English Lit from Yale, teaching credentials from Pepperdine), I love playing with words and looking for ways to engage, heal and inspire kids through stories and lyrical language. To be honest...my love of words stems back from my first literary love, Dr. Seuss! The first book I read all by myself was Green Eggs and Ham - and now I write rhyming picture books! Never doubt the power of a good book.

Sun Kisses, Moon Hugs was my first children's picture book -- when I teamed up with illustrator Courtenay Fletcher, a friend whom I met in a Mommy and Me class when our kids were tots! We were both struggling with grief (I was going through a painful divorce and Courtenay had just lost a dear friend to breast cancer), and we wanted to do something to reassure our kids that love is forever, even if you are physically separated from the one you love. We indie published Sun Kisses with a Kickstarter crowdfunding drive and the help of a lot of our friends and family.

What a joy to see that our book is now bringing comfort to THOUSANDS of kids, and helping them feel more connected to people they love and miss! Sun Kisses, Moon Hugs was recently recommended by Amy Dickinson as a great book to help kids cope with divorce, in her nationally syndicated column Ask Amy! The book is being used by families, schools, Child Life professionals, hospitals, hospices, foster care organizations, prisons, deployed military families - and so many more.

Following one dream led to another: LeVar Burton saw Sun Kisses, Moon Hugs and invited us to collaborate with him on a new picture book. The Rhino Who Swallowed a Storm, which I co-authored with LeVar and Courtenay illustrated, helps kids cope with traumatic events and realize there are helpers all around them. The Rhino Who Swallowed a Storm was selected as part of the Storytime from Space program and is currently orbiting earth aboard the International Space Station. (I even got to go to the Kennedy Space Center when they launched the rocket that carried the Cygnus spacecraft with my book aboard - and watched breathlessly when the Cygnus attached to the Space Station.)

My latest picture book, The Big Adventures of Tiny House, was inspired by the tiny house movement and my own exploration of what makes a home (my parents moved frequently when I was a kid, so I know all about packing up and settling in again...and I am also a mom who went through the struggle of remaking home for my family after a divorce).

And...once I realized dreams DO come true, I finally worked up the courage to write "The End" on a young adult novel I worked on for 24 years! The title is INSPIRED...and the main character is a girl named Rocket who learns to follow that creative spark in her heart (sound familiar?), with the help of some inspiring Greek Muses!

In addition to writing books for kids, I'm a published poet (see The Cancer Poetry Project 2 anthology and All We Can Hold: Poems of Motherhood). I am currently working on new picture books with my amazing illustrating partner, Courtenay Fletcher (we met in a Mommy and Me class when our kids were tots!).

I am a strong believer in the magical healing powers of nature and creativity! In between daydreaming and writing sessions in my backyard purple tent, I facilitate creativity workshops and stay close to my inner flower child by dancing, raising cats and chickens, traveling to museums and exotic places in search of my next idea, sculpting, painting, tide pooling and taking nature hikes with my love, my terrier, and my sons (some of these excursions led to me create the ABC Guidebooks Explores Santa Barbara Coloring Guidebook for Kids).

I am so proud to be an indie author - and love playing a part in every aspect of the book-creation process (in my photos section, there's one of me at the INSPIRED press-check at the printer the day my books were printed on the big presses- so COOL to watch!).

Thank you for visiting my Author Page - and for checking out my books! You can see more of what I am up to on my Susan Bernardo personal website or at my Sun Kisses, Moon Hugs page (which also has some great healing art activities to accompany the book!).

xoxo

Courtenay Fletcher is a children’s book illustrator, designer, art director and daydreamer who's mission is to create books that help heal and inspire children of all ages! She grew up in California, spending summers hiking through the Siskiyou National Forest, riding horses and learning to appreciate her family’s independent spirit and gift for storytelling.

In 2010, she lost a close childhood friend to breast cancer. Her friend left behind a 5-year-old daughter, which started Courtenay thinking about the ways in which we can let our children know they’re loved, even if we are apart. It was this loss and the emotional journey toward healing that inspired Sun Kisses, Moon Hugs.

Courtenay also illustrated The Rhino Who Swallowed a Storm, by LeVar Burton and Susan Schaefer Bernardo, which is a story intended to help children dealing with trauma and tough times. It was sent to the International Space Station as part of the Story Time From Space program and read aloud by astronaut Kate Rubins. Her illustrations from that book were also included in the 2015 “Writing with Pictures” exhibit at the California Center for the Arts.

Her last children's book, The Big Adventures of Tiny House was inspired by the creative and resilient spirit of the tiny house movement. It tells the story of an old farmhouse that gets recycled into a tiny house with wheels and then travels the country to discover that home isn't a place, but a feeling in your heart.

Courtenay's new picture book, The Artist Who Loved Cats: The Inspiring Tale of Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen (June 2019) is a charming picture book biography of the little know artist behind the famous Le Chat Noir poster. Told by Noir, the antique store's cat, a curious little girl is whisked back to 1890's Paris and finds that you can follow your heart and change the world with your art!