About the Author/Illustrator

Mary Jean Blaisdell, EdD, is the author and illustrator of the 'A Walk With...' picture book series for children ages 4-8, which helps children talk honestly with a trusted adult about aging, illness, death, change, and our choices/consequences.

She spent her life in Iowa and is a retired educator with 33 years in education: 12 as a special education teacher and 21 as an elementary school principal. Her work as an educator was both deeply rewarding and, at times, exhausting.

Looking for balance, she found her way to meditation and mindfulness. That’s where she stumbled onto the Five Remembrances, ancient truths about aging, illness, death, change, and our choices/consequences. Important stuff. Heavy stuff. And she kept thinking: Shouldn’t kids know about this too? And couldn’t it be at least a little bit fun?

That question became the A Walk With... series, five stories for children who deserve honest conversations about life, told with warmth, a walk outdoors, and just enough humor to make the hard parts a little lighter.