Author of adorable children books

Hi, I’m Wanda Luthman.

I hold a License in Mental Health Counseling and a Certificate in Guidance Counseling. I worked for 10 years at the local Community Mental Health Center. Many of my clients had been abused as children. There is nothing that saddens me more than to hear that a child, someone helpless and in need of protection, would be abused by anyone, much less someone that was supposed to love and protect them. I loved my job and helping people. I felt it was my “calling,” if you will. But, when I had my daughter I wanted a schedule more like hers, so I switched to Guidance Counseling. It took a few more classes and a couple more tests and then I was in the school system. I felt like I had found my actual niche when I landed there. The people I worked with all love children and worked together as a team to help them not only learn the academics but help them be all they can be. In Mental Health Counseling, I had felt like an island helping my clients.

I have worked at a High School for the past 18 years. The energy of children, ok, teens, ok, young adults is wonderful! They are looking forward to their future. They want help. And they have helped to keep me young at heart. I have found that when I connect with a youngster who needs help, if I go the extra mile to care about them, I can be that one positive adult in their life that makes the difference. Does it take commitment? Yes! Does it take time? Most certainly! Is it worth it? Absolutely!
I’ve heard it said, “It’s better to raise a child than repair an adult” (or something like that). You get the idea. I am so happy to be on this side of things, intervening and helping young adults feel like someone cares and help them become all they can be, rather than someone just full of hurt and bewilderment.

Writing is something I’ve done my whole life. I wrote books when I was 6 or 7 years old. I can’t remember exactly. I’ve always written fiction. The first story I wrote as an adult just came to me in a flash as I woke up one morning. It turned out it was a children’s story, The Lilac Princess. Someone once asked me why I wrote children’s books. All I can say is, I believe writing children’s books chose me. I believe I’m in touch with that age child (7-11) inside of me. And I loved that age when my daughter was growing up. I loved all the ages and stages but this one is really special to me. Children ages 7-11 are still innocent and get excited about stories. When I visit an Elementary School, the children make me feel like a rock star. Now, I didn’t know that when I wrote for that age, but it sure is a lot of fun!

I believe it’s important to not only help children build good character, like being obedient and having manners, but also, about becoming all they can be. I believe we want our children to grow up to be independent, broad thinkers, creative problem-solvers, and all-embracing so they can find their passion and purpose and meaning and thereby give something positive to the world. I believe when we find our passion, we do great things for the world, even if it’s just shining our positive light in our corner of the world.
I want to be part of that! I write to entertain children for sure but I also want to plant seeds of positive character that broadens their minds and touches their hearts.

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