Simeon Bleeker has magical sneakers. Whenever Simeon utters the magic words, he is able to fully imagine himself in the shoes of another child whose experiences he wonders about and are different from his own.
In this first book, Simeon spends some time in the shoes of a new girl in his kindergarten class named Madelyn. She is special in her own way. Madelyn has autism. After Simeon spends the first day of school noticing all the things that make Madelyn different, he rushes home to put his magical sneakers to work. As Simeon spends some time in Madelyn's shoes, he is able to start to understand why she does things a bit differently than he and other students in his class.
Simeon finds a way to make a special connection with Madelyn after he comes to realize what it is like to experience the world as Madelyn does.
Nase, Ronnie: - Ronnie graduated from Kutztown University with a B.S. in Electronic Media/Speech Communication. It was during college, where Ronnie met co-author, Paul Walsh, and Illustrator, Susie Sewell. Ronnie's 8 years of experience serving children in the mental health field truly speak to his passion for spreading empathy to those young and old. During that time, Ronnie has served his community as a Mental Health Technician, Therapeutic Staff Support, Respite Care Worker, and Special Education Instructional Assistant. He is excited to be working with his best friends on his authorial debut of Simeon Bleeker's Magical Sneakers.
Sewell, Susie: - Susie Sewell has had a passion for creativity since a very young age. She is an artist with backgrounds in multiple fields including glass blowing, painting and illustration. She now works as a graphic designer, a field in which she has won multiple awards. Susie has designed within an advertising agency and currently works as a freelance designer. She holds a Bachelor's in Fine Arts degree with a concentration in Glass and a Minor in Art History from Tyler School of Art, Temple University. She also holds an Associates in Applied Science for Communication Design from Northampton Area Community College. This is Susie's illustrative debut in the genre of children's books She is excited that through this project she has made a personal childhood dream come true.
Walsh, Paul: - Paul Walsh: Paul has been a lover of words for as long he can remember. He has taught creative writing and literature for the past 10 years at a high school for the arts in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and he serves as the Artistic Director of the Literary Arts at the school. Paul holds his Master's degree in English Literature, and he is currently a doctoral student in the field of education with a focus on transformational teaching and learning. He has served as a resident poet for an online literary arts magazine and is also the author of Lemonade, his first novel that was published in 2019. The publication of Simeon Bleeker's Magical Sneakers marks Paul's authorial debut in the genre of children's books.
