Authors

At The Child’s World® we pride ourselves on publishing library books that are reliable, accurate, and up-to-date. Brief biographies of the talented individuals that help make this possible are listed below.

E. Russell Primm, III
Editorial Director
Russell holds a M.A. from the University of Chicago, Graduate Library School. After many years in the book publishing industry, Russell founded Editorial Directions, a full-service book producer and consultant. Editorial Directions oversees the editorial development of every new book from The Child’s World®. Russell is a member of the American Library Association, the Chicago Book Clinic, and the University of Chicago Publishing Program.

Dr. Peg Ballard
Reading Advisor and Author (Wonder Books®)
Peg holds a Ph.D. from Purdue University and is an associate professor in the department of curriculum & instruction at Minnesota State University. Her area of expertise is diagnosis and remediation of reading difficulties. Dr. Ballard serves as a curriculum consultant and facilitator for school districts adopting new literacy programs. She has conducted in-service workshops and conference presentations on phonics instruction, literacy assessment and evaluation, and comprehension strategies.

Jane Belk Moncure
Early Childhood Education Advisor and Author
Jane earned a master’s degree from Columbia University in early childhood education and has made an invaluable contribution to children’s literature. She is the author of more than 300 children’s books, with over 30 million copies in print. Jane is the creator of the Sound Box® Library, the Word Bird® Library, and Magic Castle Readers®.

Michelle Marie Nichols-Yehling
Content Editor (Our Galaxy and Beyond)
Michelle obtained her Master’s of Education degree from National-Louis University. She also has a B.S. in Physics and Astronomy from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. Currently, Michelle is the lead educator for informal programs at the Adler Planetarium & Museum in Chicago.

Shirley Gray Wimbish
Author (Living Well)
Shirley has been a writer and educator for more than 25 years and has published over a dozen books for children. She also coordinates cancer education programs at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and consults as a writer with scientists and physicians.

Dr. R. John Solarois
Content Editor (The Human Body)
Dr. Solarois holds a Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. He is currently a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, where he is head of the Department of Physiology and Biophysics in the College of Medicine. He is past president of the Cardiac Muscle Society and a member of the American Heart Association Council on Cardiovascular Sciences. He was associate editor of the American Journal of Physiology and is on the editorial board of Circulation Research.

Dr. Daniel Ehnbom
Content Editor (Countries: Face and Places)
Daniel holds M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in South Asian Art History from the University of Chicago, and a B.A. in Indian Studies from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He is an associate professor in the McIntire Department of Art at the University of Virginia, and a trustee of the American Institute of Indian Studies.

Dr. Marla Miller
Content Editor (Our Thirteen Colonies)
Marla holds a Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her fields of interest include early American history and women’s history. She is currently an assistant professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Her teaching interests include studies in archives and historic preservation. Her dissertation was awarded the Lerner-Scott Prize from the Organization of American Historians.

Cynthia Klingel
Curriculum Advisor and Author (Wonder Books®)
Cindy holds a master’s in curriculum and instruction as well as a B.A. in both elementary education and English. Currently she is a curriculum director for a Minnesota school district. Previously, she worked as an elementary teacher and a high school English teacher.

William F. Holton
Content Editor (Tuskegee Airmen)
William holds B.A., B.S., and M.A. degrees from Howard University. He spent 35 years in civil service before returning to work at his alma mater. Since retirement, Bill has worked full time on oral history research relating to the military exploits of America’s Black Eagles of World War II. He is a Life Member of Tuskegee Airmen, Inc., and is currently their national historian.

Dr. K. V. Rao
Content Editor (Asian Indian Americans)
Dr. Rao holds a Ph.D. in social demography from the University of Western Ontario and is a Postdoctoral Fellow at Princeton University. Currently he is an associate professor at Bowling Green State University. He is a member of the Indian Association for the Study of Population and the American Sociology Association. In 2003, he became a Chair of the Asian American Race and Ethnic Advisory Committee for the U.S. Census Bureau. He is the founder and president of the India Network Foundation.

Jim Buckley Jr.
Author (Inside the NFL)
James is currently editorial director of the Shoreline Publishing Group. He has written more than 35 sports books for young people, including America’s Greatest Game, which became a Library Journal Top 10 Sports Book for 1998. He was an editor and writer for Sports Illustrated and NFL Publishing.

Susan Gray
Author (The Human Body)
Susan holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in zoology and has taught college-level anatomy and physiology courses. In her 23 years as an author, she has written many medical articles and children’s books.