If You Give A Mouse A Cookie was rejected by nine publishers before one person said Yes! So, just remember, NEVER GIVE UP!
A New York Times best-selling children’s book author, Laura Joffe Numeroff (she/her) (https://lauranumeroff.com/) is best known for the series based on her book If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. First printed in 1985, “Mouse” is now beyond its 60th printing. The fourth book in the series, If You Take a Mouse to the Movies spent nine weeks at number one on the New York Times Children’s Best Seller list.
Laura was born in Brooklyn, New York, and grew up as the youngest of three girls, surrounded by art, music, and books. She attended Pratt Institute and graduated with a degree in communications and a contract for her first children’s book, Amy for Short, published in 1975 by Macmillan.
In 2000, If You Give a Pig a Pancake was featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show, and recommended by Oprah’s first kids’ book club, and Oprah crowned it her favorite children’s book of the year on her Christmas show. “Pig” was also on Publishers Weekly Bestseller List for over a year. In addition, the series has sold over 4.5 million copies, been printed in fourteen languages, and won the Quill Award in the picture book category.
An avid animal lover, Laura, with co-creator Sean Hanrahan, announced a new illustrated children’s book, Raising a Hero, published in 2016. A portion of all sales supports Canine Companions for Independence, a non-profit providing skilled service dogs to children, adults and veterans with disabilities and special needs, free of charge.
President George W. Bush, First Lady Laura Bush, and Secretary Hillary Clinton have all read Numeroff’s books to children. First Lady Michelle Obama, with her mother and two daughters, Malia and Sasha, read If You Give a Mouse a Cookie at the 2010 Easter Egg Roll on the White House Lawn. Laura was one of ten children’s authors invited to a literacy day in Washington during the Bush administration in 2001. Laura has also visited over 100 elementary schools and has been a speaker at teacher conferences around the country.
In addition to her work with service dogs and kids with disabilities, Laura donates a portion of her book royalties to First Book, a non-profit organization that provides brand new books to children who otherwise would not have access to them. She also built the Florence and William Numeroff Library in Biwi, Malawi for the students and community of Biwi.
Click here to access the Raising a Hero Facebook page.
Books by Laura Numeroff
