I was born in Owensboro, Kentucky and grew up in Waco, Texas and Jackson, Mississippi. I graduated from the University of Arizona in 1981 with a degree in Creative Writing. Upon graduation, I worked for three years at Bookman's Used Books, Arizona's largest used book store. In 1985, I went to work for my friend Michael Sampson as the manager of the Cornerstone Bookstore in Commerce, Texas. For the next 17 years, I read thousands of children's books annually. I perused all the publishers' juvenile catalogs and read reviews in professional journals to find the best children's books. From that research, I created the Cornerstone children's book catalog which featured more than 500 of the best titles in juvenile literature each year. The Cornerstone became the official bookstore of the Bill Martin Literacy Conferences in the late 1980s. I selected the "cream of the crop" to feature at Bill's conferences. Our primary clientele were teachers. Over the years, I met thousands of teachers and developed a pretty good nose for what they were looking for in children's literature. I met and worked with hundreds of the industry's leading authors and illustrators, spending thousands of hours sitting with them as they signed books, taking them to and from airports, and enjoying meals with them at restaurants all around the United States. I was privileged to get to hear most of these authors and illustrators speak and demonstrate their craft. I learned from each of them and count many of them as dear friends. Bill Martin was my greatest influence as he became my next door neighbor and close friend. With Bill's failing health and inability to participate in the conferences, the store eventually closed. In 2002, I was hired as a kindergarten teacher at the prompting of several presenters from the conferences who thought my knowledge of children's books and my interaction with teachers over the years had built within me the necessary tools for teaching (I was selected as the teacher of the year at our campus for the year 2007-2008.) I was surprised to find how much I enjoyed teaching young children. My desire to provide them with quality literature has pushed me to write books that I wish I could find on store shelves. (I wish several of my stories had been available in book form while the store was open because I know I could have sold hundreds or thousands of copies over the years). Many of my stories have that educational focus behind them. Others have grown out of stories I told or games I played with my own four children as they grew up. I try to write well enough to be considered the "cream of the crop". That's my touchstone as I write. As a boy growing up in the Mississippi public school system, I was constantly dismayed at how boring much of the literature was. Reading was not much fun for me back then. I try to make my stories funny and full of action when I can. I want kids to laugh, and to be surprised by what they find in my books. I strive to make them think as they read, to predict what will come next. And I try to make the outcome as delightful as the wonderful ideas they come up with on their own. My greatest reward when I read my stories to my kids is to hear, "read it again!" Then I know I have done my work well. In 2018 I retired from teaching after 16 years and began publishing my own books. On my birthday in 2018, "Brush Your Little Pearly Whites" debuted with illustrations by my daughter Christina Darty. In February of 2019, the Spanish version came out. In January of 2020, my son Bryant Canzoneri illustrated "So Did I" which is proving to be a favorite with young children. Plans are to have "Tick Tock Tickle Bug" available by the end of 2022, another title illustrated by Bryant Canzoneri. By the end of 2023 I hope Christina Darty will have "The Turning of the School Year" finished.
