Amy Frenck, a kindergarten teacher at Steuart W. Weller Elementary School in Loudoun, has discovered a new passion alongside teaching. She has written and illustrated nearly 20 children’s books inspired by moments from her classroom.
Frenck began writing stories when she was in grade school. Since high school, she wanted to become a teacher like her mother. She studied elementary and special education in New York. After teaching special education there, she moved to Loudoun in 2013 to teach kindergarten.
Two years ago, Frenck revisited writing after creating a vision board with her own children.
“I’m sure my mom still has some stories I wrote as a child tucked away. But after college and raising kids, I set writing aside. Once my kids got older, I decided to pick it up again. I wanted to do it for my students and check it off my bucket list,” Frenck said.
After making the vision board, she wrote a story about a rabbit afraid to try a carrot. She learned how to self-publish books on Amazon by watching YouTube and TikTok videos. Her first book was published in summer 2023.
When Frenck read the book to her students the next school year, their excitement motivated her to keep writing. The children connected with the story, knowing their teacher had written it.
“I was surprised by their reaction. They were very excited and wanted to borrow the book from the library. They even fought over it in the classroom. Their enthusiasm inspired me to write more books about little moments in our class,” she explained.
Frenck now has 16 books available on Amazon. They cover classroom events like hatching chicks and butterflies, making sock snowmen, and welcoming new kindergarteners. She also sells personalized books on Etsy, where parents can add their child’s name to bedtime, birthday, and holiday stories. The personalized goodnight books are especially popular as baby shower gifts.
She faced some challenges with her first books because Amazon has strict publishing rules. But once she learned the process, publishing became easier.
Her three most popular titles are “Hatching Chicks in Room 2,” “Kindergarten: What a Wonderful Year,” and her newest, “Welcome to Kindergarten: A Special Book to Start Your Year.”
Teachers from across the U.S. and parts of Canada have reached out to say how much their students enjoy her books. One teacher in Missouri even inspired her to write a preschool book.
Frenck emphasizes that she does not write for profit. She writes for her students and about their experiences.
“This is not about making money. I do it because it gets my students excited about reading. They love knowing their teacher wrote a book,” she said. She recalled how her students made sure a substitute teacher assistant knew about the books.
When she publishes a new book, her students often look through the illustrations and say it looks like them. They sometimes take the books to the classroom to compare with real caterpillars.
This year, Frenck plans to give personalized books to each student as a parting gift. She hopes this will help them remember the year they spent together.
Looking ahead, Frenck wants to continue teaching and writing. She is also considering creating animated videos or audiobooks based on her stories.
“I am passionate about both teaching and writing. I have loved working in Loudoun County since 2013. It is great that these two parts of my life connect. Writing about the classroom helps me teach, and reading the books helps the children connect to the stories,” she said.
Frenck’s advice to new authors is clear: start with what you know and don’t give up.
“I watched many videos and sent my book to Amazon several times. They rejected it at first because of size issues, but I kept trying. So, start with what you love and know, and keep going,” she said.
