Penny Nolan is a native Californian with a bachelor’s degree and teaching credential from San Jose State University. She is proud to have taught at Pinewood Elementary School for twenty-eight years. After sharing the lives of so many students and raising two wonderful children of her own, she sat down at the computer and brought to life the stories that had been brewing in the back of her mind all those years. Penny enjoys creating stories that are silly and quirky but are also sweet and sensitive. The sky’s the limit when writing for children! And no matter what she writes, she loves to make a difference in their lives.

Penny is also an artist and delights in the rich inner world of a creative mind. She loves to combine art and storytelling, and she boasts that her best paintings are the ones with a story behind it. When she is not writing or painting, she is puttering around in the garden or traveling the world with her husband.

Her debut picture book, JESS AND THE MONSTROUS MESS, will be published by Lawley Publishers in 2025. Her second book, MAVERICK’S RIDE, will also be published by Lawley in 2026. In 2022, her MG novel excerpt about a secret society of teachers was a finalist for the Kids’ Choice Kidlit writing contest. Her paintings can be viewed at pennynolan.com. She is a member of SCBWI and 12 x 12, belongs to two children’s literature critique groups, and attends numerous conferences and workshops for this genre.