Erin Cleary
Erin Cleary is a picture book and middle grade writer. She is a native Chicagoan who grew up diagramming sentences for fun and competing in family pun wars. She earned her bachelor’s in vocal performance and master’s in elementary education, both from Northwestern University. She served in the United States Peace Corps in Uganda as a primary school teacher trainer. After returning to the U.S., she taught elementary school before moving to educational publishing where she wrote and edited elementary classroom materials and managed projects for various publishing companies. She now works in her town’s library, where she plans programs and helps young readers find great books to read!
Erin has always been a creator, from making clothes from felt and glue for her small bear as a little girl, to baking extravagantly decorated cakes, sewing, singing songs, and writing down the stories she makes up in her head. She is happiest when she is making something, especially with words or music. She currently resides in a suburb of Chicago with her husband, two daughters, two dogs, and more children’s books than she has shelves to hold.