KAREN T. TAHA

            Karen Taha hails from a small town in the Ouachita Mountains of western Arkansas.  She grew up on the Arizona desert and spent much time in northern Mexico during her early years. 

            Her careers have ranged from teaching high school Spanish and English-as-a-Second-Language, to translator/interpreter, library media specialist, and author.  She has written articles and stories for educational and children’s magazines and four books. Her latest, Hot Dog on TV, is an Easy-to-Read published by Dial Press. The others are A Gift for Tía Rosa, which is included in the Holt Rinehart and Winston reading series, “Reading Today and Tomorrow,” as well as two children’s anthologies, and is a review book on the PBS series “Reading Rainbow”; Marshmallow Muscles, Banana Brainstorms, an ALA recommended book for reluctant readers, and Name That Book!, which she co-authored for librarians and teachers.

            A member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, Karen has freelanced as a writer of commercial and educational video scripts, and composed English and Spanish comprehension passages for national testing projects.

            Mother of three, she has found inspiration for her writing in her own children and in the many children she has known through her work and travel.  With her family, she has lived in Mexico, Kuwait, Egypt and most recently, Spain.  In her writing, she strives to convey to children the universality of the human experience—that the child halfway around the globe is very much like the boy or girl next door, and that an open heart and an open mind are essential to peace and happiness.