About Ann McCallum Staats

Hi, I’m Ann. I used to be a teacher, but now I’m a full-time author. I’ve lived in 3 countries and taught at 3 different levels. I’ve written over a dozen books, and I love oatmeal cookies. 

Here’s a secret. I never, ever thought I could be an author when I was a kid. Let me take you back …

I grew up outside a tiny town in British Columbia, Canada. My dad built a house next to the Arrow Lakes. Back then there were no nail guns, so one day I was given the task of hammering in the spikey nails to hold down the flooring. I was terrible at it. If you pull up the carpet, you’ll see the bent over nails that my dad had to flatten into the floor after my failed attempt.

What I was good at was imagining. I made fairy dishes out of daisies and, with my brothers, battleships out of driftwood (Our job was to sink them using rocks thrown from the shore).  I grew up reading and playing outdoors—skiing in the winter and swimming in the summer. Then it was time to go to university.

After earning a teaching degree, I took the first job I was offered. It was for a one-room school in northern British Columbia. With ten students ranging from grade 1 to grade 7—I’ve never taught a 3rd grader—it was a cold, but fun year. In the winter, I had to plug my car into an electrical outlet so it wouldn’t freeze and crack. Then there was the time a bear meandered through the schoolyard …

My next big LIFE EVENT was when I moved to Maryland. It took me months to get used to traffic noise. After a while, I settled into teaching math for grades 4 and 5. I had two beautiful children while also earning a master’s degree in education. This was a good thing because I needed it for my next move. At first this new place felt like Mars.  

Sharjah is an emirate in the United Arab Emirates and home to an American-style university in the middle of the desert. With my advanced degree, I got a teaching job at the university and loved it.

I began thinking about writing a book. I began writing “The Secret Life of Math” with an illustrator friend. We sent off a proposal, and, wow, someone wanted to publish it! Next I wrote two math fairytales before relocating back to the United States.

Jump cut forward and here I am with over a dozen books. One is “Fantastic Flora: The World’s Biggest, Baddest, and Smelliest Plants,” illustrated by Zoë Ingram. Another book is “A Quilt of Stars” which I co-wrote with astronaut Karen Nyberg (illustrated by Alida Massari). It will publish in 2026.

But why do I write? Mostly it’s because I’m curious. I love sharing my discoveries with others because where’s the joy in keeping these things to myself? I write mostly nonfiction and for all different ages. I work from an office at the back of my house and have a desk that faces the woods. This, along with family and friends, makes life pretty great!