Hello

I’m Amanda Audit.

I’m a Canadian early childhood educator and the author of ‘My Family and Yours’ and ‘Life Advice from Donuts’. I’m so glad you’re here.  Check out my FAQ below to learn a little bit more about me, or scroll down for other fun content.

Describe yourself in 5 words:

Creative, driven, understanding, hilarious, and patient (with the necessary amount of caffeine)

What made you want to write children’s books?

To be honest, I always knew I wanted to write, though I hadn’t really thought about writing children’s books until “Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus” by Mo Willems. I read that book over and over again to Grae, and each time he would shout with joy and laughter “No” when asked if he would let pigeon drive the bus.

I have such fond memories of the giggling and laughter we shared reading stories. This made me want to write something children would love, and remember in their later years.

Where do you draw your inspiration from?

For this particular project My Family and Yours, the families I was working with at the time. My daycare centre had children from all walks of life and it was evident that the “traditional family” was just that, traditional. I felt there needed to be a children’s book describing today’s “modern families”. I wanted to share a message that reflected innocence, with no labels. I wanted to share with children that a family is made of of people who love, and care for you.

What did you want to be when you were growing up?

Up until high school I wanted to be a babysitter. Later I dreamed I would be the next Fern Micheals, Nora Roberts, or Daniele Steel. Thinking back, I may have been a little young for those books lol. By the end of high school though it was a tough call between becoming an educator or a lawyer. Initially I decided that going into Education was the right field for me, after my third year working with children, I went back to school to try my hand in Law. After graduating from my program and working at a firm, it became very clear very quickly that I loved working with children. Volia! Here I am :)

If you could transform into a single animal on command, what animal would it be?

A bird. I would love to fly. That being said I am deathly afraid of heights, still though I would love to be an eagle. Or a puffin, though flying underwater seems pretty dare devil like as well.

How do you spend your leisure time?

Well for starters I love running (like I stole something), doing laundry, (loads, and loads of it!) and eating super healthy! …that’s me attempting humour, now everyone knows why I never made it in stand up.

I love reading, big surprise! Scrapbooking, sipping wine, reading, talking with my Nanny on the phone, traveling, karaoke, reading, answering fan mail, writing, and reading!