Author Tamar Johnson loves children and is a kid at heart herself – blanket forts, ice cream parties, you name it. She has dedicated herself to working with kids, first as the director of a Montessori preschool, and then as an author of heartwarming picture books for children. Working with young children on a daily basis, Tamar is uniquely qualified to understand what stories work for them. Being in a preschool provides endless source material, pulling her story ideas from experiences with students and her own family. Her lifelong obsession with reading took a turn during the pandemic lockdown, and she decided to turn the tables and write a book of her own, debuting with The Great Golden Banana, the first story in The Adventures of Bree and Tae picture book series. Tamar thinks a great story is one where the reader is taken on a journey – emotional, spiritual, or action-packed. With her second picture book, Where is the Sun?, about having hope and finding happiness in uncertain times, she hopes the story opens up a dialogue between parents and their children, particularly in today’s landscape, and brings them some peace. A custom for Tamar while writing is that she has to have the perfect song playing and a candle burning. She also talks to her characters or acts out the dialogue in her stories. When she’s not penning poignant stories for children, she enjoys gardening and reading science fiction and fantasy books. Tamar lives in South Plainfield, New Jersey, with her three-year-old Maltipoo named Teddy.