Tarja Helena NevalaTarja was born in Finland and raised on three continents. She has lived in Finland, Australia, Canada, and the USA. Within Tarja's childhood home, old family stories were shared, celebrated, and retold countless times. The art of oral storytelling wa very much alive and contributed to her love of telling and retelling stories. She believes a child begins their journey into the world of literacy by hearing a spoken language. A part of this spoken language is oral story telling. Children's picture books are an important in this journey.Tarja's large family of caring people is a part of her author journey. She gives a big thank you to her family, friends, teachers who encouraged her to write, 12 x 12 Picture Book Writing Challenge community, and SCBWI.Tarja loves anything cinnamon and everything caramel. She loves to bake, sing, tend her garden, and take long walks. Her most favorite walk was the Camino de Santiago (The Way of the Stars), a 500-mile ancient pilgrim route from the French side of the Pyrenees Mountains to the city of Santiago in northwest Spain.Being genuinely you, and writing stories that delight children's ears, hearts, and minds, is Tarja's passion in kidlit. Read More Read Less