About Ann McCallum Staats

Fun Facts: I used to be a teacher, but now I’m a full-time author. I’ve taught 3 different levels and lived in 3 different countries (Canada, United Arab Emirates, and the United States). I’ve had over 15 books published and I once went skydiving for research. 

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 automatic 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 pulled up the carpet, you would 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 leave home.

After earning a teaching degree, I took the first job I was offered. It was in a one-room school in northern British Columbia. With ten students ranging from grade 1 to grade 7 (I’ve never taught a 3^rd grader), it was a COLD, but fun year. In the winter, I had to plug my car into an electrical outlet so the engine 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. Eventually, I settled into teaching math for grades 4 and 5. I had two beautiful children while also earning my master’s degree in education. This was a good thing because I needed it for my next move, a place that 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 brainstormed “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. P.S. That first book earned ForeWord’s Gold Book of the Year for 2005!

Jump cut forward and here I am with over 15 published books (and more on the way!). Each book is truly a passion project. For example, when I co-wrote “A Quilt of Stars” with astronaut Karen Nyberg, it helped that I was once completely in love with the idea of becoming an astronaut myself. It didn’t happen, but, yay, I got to write about one! Or, for “Fantastic Flora: The World’s Biggest, Baddest, and Smelliest Plants,” who knew I was going to fall so in love with amazing plants?  

I’m often asked why I write. And, yes, the reality is hours upon hours of work, much of which will only be seen by me (and my critique group—bless you all). Mostly I write because I’m curious. I love learning and then sharing my discoveries with others because where’s the joy in keeping these things to myself? I write a lot of nonfiction and for all different ages. Lately, I’ve delved into fiction and, boy, that’s a learning curve (but equally fun)! I work from a home office with a desk that faces the woods. This, along with my husband (Rich), family, and friends, makes life pretty great!