Interview with Mom’s Choice Award-Winner Dr. Joan Ruddiman
November 12, 2025
Mom’s Choice Awards is excited to announce another post in our interview series where we chat with the inventors, designers, publishers, and others behind some of our favorite family-friendly products.
Welcome, Mom’s Choice readers! We are delighted to have the chance to speak with Joan Ruddiman, EdD, author of the Noanie book series. Her most recent book to win the Mom’s Choice Award is Welcome, Mac, to the Family. This story continues with the author’s desire to help young readers make sense of their world—in this case, the birth of a baby brother. The euphoria at hearing the news that Mama is having a baby—a boy!—is tempered by the reality that it takes many months for a baby to arrive. John must be patient and he strives to be a helper as their little family gets ready for the “delivery,” the word he learns for when the baby is born. But when the baby comes a bit early, 7-year-old John learns about the NICU—Neonatal Intensive Care Unit—and what Baby Mac must be able to do before he can come home. Joan believes that children of all ages, from 2 to teens, who are waiting for a new baby will take comfort in this story, particularly those who have the additional wait for a preemie to come home. Keep reading to find out more about Joan and her multiple award-winning books!
MCA: Thanks for joining us again, Joan! For those who may not have seen your earlier interviews, please tell us a bit about yourself.
I have loved books since my earliest memory. As a reading specialist, I spent over 30 years with—mostly—middle and high school students sharing the joys of reading. A big part of my life has been serving our local library as a Trustee, which is a fancy term for “servant of the Library!” I wrote a weekly newspaper column for many years that spotlighted books, local events, and observations on life. I’m now “repurposed”—a more accurate term than “retired”—and found a calling to write children’s books. My grandchildren have been the inspiration for the narratives, with my teacher’s soul that guides the underlying themes of illuminating a child’s world.
MCA: What inspired you to become an author, and how has your personal background influenced your writing?
As an avid reader and writer, I always imagined I would write books, or at least “a” book. I was taken by surprise when children’s books captured my imagination. The stories came to me and demanded to be told. But children’s books are narrative AND images, and I am not a graphic artist! The brilliant illustrator, Jo Ann Kairys, has been a great blessing in bringing these stories to life. I am currently working on a history of our library, which means the story of our little town and the people who founded and maintained a library for 150 years.
MCA: What great imagery—that the stories demanded to be told. Tell us, what was your inspiration for writing this book?
Welcome, Mac, to the Family, like the other Noanie Books, was inspired by events and conversations as we all waited for Mac’s arrival. The spark was a conversation my son related. Young John wistfully reflected on having to wait for Mac to come home. “Daddy, when Daniel Tiger’s sister Margaret was born, Daniel got to go the hospital to see her. Why can’t I go to the hospital to meet my Baby Mac?” Daddy’s reply began, “Well John, Daniel Tiger lives in the Land of Make Believe,” which led to a conversation about germs, and how John is exposed to many germs at school. “A LOT of germs!” John agrees. “Mama” in the story is a doctor, and she encouraged me to write this book and was a great help in sharing the details of the NICU that, I think, are an important part of the story. Through Jo Ann’s unique illustrations, using AI technology to capture human form (not cartoon characters)—highly innovative!—young readers can see the realities of the NICU as a benign, caring place.
It took me a bit to enter into the story. I thought that children might be disturbed by the baby being in the hospital. It came to me one early morning that Mac could introduce the story! Mac, now 3, is very cute! And very photogenic. Our photos “trained” AI on how to present the characters. “Hi, I’m Mac. And this is the story of when I was born. I was there, of course, but my mama, and daddy, and my brother John will tell the story.” And then the story begins with John excitedly telling Noanie and PopPop that “Mama is having a baby. And it’s a BOY!” Young readers who have concerns as they encounter challenging moments for the family will know that all will be well, as they already met Mac!
I have to say that the greatest joy is reading this book to Mac. “Noanie, read me the story of when I was born!” It fills my heart watching Mac’s expressions as he enters into young John’s emotional journey.
MCA: What a lovely story. Could you share your creative process with us—how you generate ideas and bring them to life on the page?
Each story started with a spark of a moment or conversation with a young grandchild that made me think about a way to broaden young readers’ awareness and understanding. With the first book, Little Children, Big Feelings, I thought about how children need precise words to help them express their emotions. “Euphoric” is much more than merely “happy.” In this book, Jo Ann and I created a graphic metaphor—a balloon—that conveys the emotions expressed in the narrative. My teacher daughter, Jayne, created activities at the end of the book to “play with” the new words for big feelings.
Today Cara Goes to Kindergarten wrote itself! My daughter Jillian called me the morning she took Cara to kindergarten and as she related the events and big emotions of that morning, I wrote it all down. Jo Ann suggested that Cara and her family tell the story with photographs. This proved to be an entertaining project for them, as COVID had ended Cara’s kindergarten year. It has been most gratifying to have families share how this book has eased anxieties about going to kindergarten. And years later, Cara re-visited her story as she changed schools. The lesson to “be a friend to have a friend” is universally applied!
What Do You Call Your Grandmother? began with young John discovering that “Noanie” is his grandmother! “But why is she called Noanie?” Why indeed! This led me to think how all grandmother names (and then grandfather names in What Do You Call Your Grandfather?) are special and beautiful, and should be respected. I also see these books as a means for families to share the origin stories of their special grandparent names.
A Morning Stroll in Noanie’s Garden was actually the first book I played with, but it lived in a file on my computer for several years until I found Jo Ann, who was delighted to tackle the rich images of plants and flowers. My vision here was a grandmother introducing her garden plants to her grandchild—the proper names and their nicknames! This book also has a range of fun activities at the end for children to apply their newfound awareness of garden gems.
I believe books for children should offer a good story, but also should provoke some thinking—and learning!
MCA: Absolutely! Tell us, what do you hope readers will take away from your books?
A librarian friend bought Today Cara Goes to Kindergarten for her young neighbor and his mom who were very anxious about starting school. She said it made a world of difference for the young family. Parents and grandparents have shared how Little Children, Big Feelings have opened conversations that allow children to work through their own big feelings. My own young grandson Jamie took comfort in What Do You Call Your Grandfather when a friend in his kindergarten class thought that “PopPop” was a silly name for a grandfather. ALL grandfather names are special!
An educator friend shared A Morning Stroll in Noanie’s Garden with his granddaughters whose dad is a landscaper. They poured over Jo Ann’s rich images, identifying plants and discussing which the deer won’t eat, and what the butterflies love.
It touches my heart to hear these accounts of young readers and their reading partners enjoying the stories and learning from them. As a classroom teacher, I believed the best way to learn was through books we enjoy reading, and then talking about them. My world is constantly enriched through reading fiction and nonfiction. Why should it be any different for young readers?
My hope for Welcome, Mac, to the Family is that parents and children who are in the midst of the challenges of early births can find comfort in Mac’s story.
MCA: What do you find most rewarding about the writing process? Conversely, what are some of the challenges you face?
I find writing is a joy. I am not a painter, but I imagine the emotion an artist feels in filling a canvas is what I feel with words flowing onto pages.
It is rewarding when what I write gives people joy. It is a delight when people tell me they enjoy what I’ve written. But I would write even if it is never read by another soul. Like an artist has to paint, and a dancer has to dance, it is just part of me.
The biggest challenge, for me, is that I am not good at promoting my books. I so want them to be read and enjoyed. But I hesitate to “push” them—what is called “marketing,” I suppose. The joy is in having them in print for my grands and children everywhere to read and gain a bit of insight about their big world.
MCA: How delightful—for future generations to enjoy and learn from. Tell us how your books contribute to promoting family-friendly values or enhancing the lives of your readers.
Each book encourages young readers and their reading partners to consider ideas—new words, new experiences, new understandings. The tone in each is intentionally warm, with loving parents guiding children through big emotions, big moments. I share a line from Scripture in each book on the acknowledgment page. For example, in A Morning Stroll in Noanie’s Garden, is the line from Genesis 1:12: “The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seeds … trees bearing fruit. … And God saw that it was good.”
MCA: Can you share any memorable moments or feedback from readers that have touched you or reinforced the impact of your work?
I shared a few examples. One other in particular was quite memorable. A friend had gotten Little Children, Big Feelings, for her grandchildren and told me how much they all enjoyed the book. Then weeks later, I got a message from her that the family had been in a car accident—no one was hurt but everyone was badly shaken. She told me that the family talked about their big feelings that night as they read through the book. She said it helped them process the events and feel better.
MCA: How wonderful to know you’re making that kind of a difference in people’s lives. What advice would you give to aspiring authors who are just starting their writing journey?
Children’s books are BOOKS! That is, they should have the elements of good storytelling—strong characters, a story arc, conflict that is resolved. Wonderful children’s books are beautifully illustrated, so my best piece of advice is: connect with a talented illustrator!
Interestingly, I found Jo Ann because she was introduced to me as a book coach! So besides creating wonderful images, she also guided me through the process of getting ISBN and Library of Congress numbers, how to format my pages to coincide with the illustrations, how to find a publishing company, and so much more. Find her website!!
I will also say, don’t expect to make a ton of money. Authors earn a small percentage of the total sale cost. The publisher gets paid, the retailer gets paid, all those who produce the book get paid. But if your objective is to tell a good story that readers will enjoy, that will be your “payday.”
MCA: Excellent advice. As an author, what are your future plans or goals?
As mentioned, I am currently finishing a history of my little town and its people over the past 300 years, and how they forged and grew a library. I have no idea how to get it indexed, or how to place photos and format sidebar accounts, or who will want to publish it. But, like with the children’s books, I expect I can find experts who know how these things are done and I have faith that this book will be published and will contribute to the culture of my community.
As for the children’s books, a goal is to improve my marketing acumen with the intent that more young readers can enjoy these books.
MCA: Joan, thanks for joining us again. We certainly wish you the best!
