Nancy Churnin author page

Nancy Churnin biography

Nancy Churnin writes children’s books, including picture-book biographies. Before writing full time, she worked as a theatre critic for the Dallas Morning News and the Los Angeles Times San Diego Edition.

Her books include The William Hoy Story: How a Deaf Baseball Player Changed the Game, Manjhi Moves a Mountain, Charlie Takes His Shot: How Charlie Sifford Broke the Color Barrier in Golf, Irving Berlin: The Immigrant Boy Who Made America Sing, Martin & Anne: The Kindred Spirits of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Anne Frank, Beautiful Shades of Brown: Laura Wheeler Waring, Artist, For Spacious Skies: Katharine Lee Bates and the Inspiration for “America the Beautiful”, Dear Mr. Dickens, Rainbow Allies and A Teddy Bear for Emily—and President Roosevelt, Too.

Dear Mr. Dickens is a 32-page picture book about Eliza Davis challenging Charles Dickens over the antisemitic portrayal of a Jewish character in Oliver Twist. The book was published by Whitman, Albert & Company on 1 October 2021. It won the 2021 National Jewish Book Award for Children’s Picture Book and was a 2022 Sydney Taylor Book Award Honor Book for Picture Books.

Irving Berlin: The Immigrant Boy Who Made America Sing was published by Creston Books as a 32-page children’s book, with illustrations by James Rey Sanchez. Martin & Anne: The Kindred Spirits of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Anne Frank was published by Creston Books on 5 March 2019, with illustrations by Yevgenia Nayberg.

A Teddy Bear for Emily—and President Roosevelt, Too is an informational picture book about the Jewish immigrant family connected with the creation of the original “Teddy’s Bear”. It was written by Churnin, illustrated by Bethany Stancliffe and published by Whitman on 6 March 2025.