About the Author

Hi! I’m Amanda Amaral, the author and creator behind Maya Moon Books, and since every great journey begins with a story — I’d love to take a moment and share mine with you.

Creative writing has always been deeply woven into the very fabric of who I am, although I did not fully realize or appreciate its significance until recent years. 

Writing short stories, poems, blogs, jingles, songs (and even raps in my questionable years!) was something I did simply because I enjoyed the art of stringing together words and sharing it with others. I never considered it a “gift.” However, in hindsight, there were many signs and nudges throughout my life that indicated to me that writing was my calling and had the potential to impact others.

In fact, one of my earliest elementary school memories was from when I was only 8 years old. I had written a silly Christmas poem as a joke and ended up having my Grade 3 teacher send me on a mini reading tour where I visited multiple classrooms to read my poem at the front of each class. Though it was long ago, I remember it very clearly and I don’t ever remember feeling nervous — instead I felt proud, inspired, and motivated that something I created was being heard by others around me. Little did I know at the time that my teacher‘s seemingly small act of encouragement taught me the power that lies in both telling one’s story and in listening to another’s.

There are many other instances like this that happened throughout my life, but my love for storytelling and books really ramped up when I became a mom. From the moment I found out I was pregnant with my first child, I knew books would play a big part in our home. 4 children and 3,000+ children’s books later — our love of books continues to grow with every bed time reading. 

And so, coupling a lifelong passion for writing and a love of children’s books, it only made sense to begin to add to our family’s library with books we created ourselves. Thus, the next chapter of this story began and Maya Moon Books was born.