I was born in Missouri, went to high school and college in Michigan, and lived in northern California for sixteen years. When I arrived in the Sonoran Desert in July of 1989, I felt that I had finally come "home." It seemed I had been searching for daily warm sunshine, big skies, and open spaces all my life.

I write books and curriculum for children and educators. I also work as a literacies and libraries consultant.

I am currently an assistant professor in the School of Library and Information Studies at Texas Woman's University in Denton. I have taught fifth grade, served as a literacy coach, and worked for thirteen years as a librarian at elementary, junior high and high school. I have taught courses for preservice and inservice classroom teachers and school librarians in early literacy, writing, language arts and social studies methods for Northern Arizona University and children's literature, school library administration, and electronic literacy for the University of Arizona where I earned my Ph.D. from the Department of Language, Reading and Culture in May 2003. I taught graduate students in library science at Texas Woman's University in Denton for seven years. I continue to conduct research on classroom-library collaboration and the impact of technology on learning and teaching practices.

In 1999 in order to prepare this online resource for students and teachers, I participated in the 1999-2000 Sabino Canyon Volunteer Naturalist Training. I conducted "Web of Life" field trips in the spring of 2000 and learned more about what students and teachers need to support their learning and teaching about canyon ecology.

This Web site is a collaborative effort among many people. David Lazaroff, author and Sabino Canyon expert, Marion Erickson, Volunteer Naturalist and Sabino Canyon plant expert, and Deb Judin, Vice President of the Sabino Canyon Volunteer Naturalist Program (1999-2001) helped ensure that the scientific information found on this site is accurate. Karen Fields and I wrote the piggyback lyrics for the songs on this site. The Fields Family Singers, Stephanie, Tianna, Celeste, and Karen, performed the songs. Josh Kanto and Bryan Cox at the University of Arizona Multimedia Learning Lab helped us record them.

I am also the author of Sing Down the Rain, a children's picture book about the Tohono O'odham American Indians' annual saguaro fruit harvest and rain-making ceremony. My second book, Read to Me/Vamos a leer, was written to promote family literacy and was published by Star Bright Books in 2004. My third children's book Ready and Waiting for You was published by Eerdmans Books for Young Readers in 2013.

My professional books for classroom teachers and school librarians are Coteaching Reading Comprehension Strategies in Secondary School Libraries: Maximizing Your Impact (ALA Editions, 2012) and Coteaching Reading Comprehension Strategies in Elementary School Libraries: Maximizing Your Impact (ALA Editions, 2013). You can learn more about my publications by visiting my Web site at: storytrail.com

This photograph was taken in 2000 by my daughter Lauren at the eastern end of the Santa Catalina Mountain Range. Sabino Canyon is located near the center of this range.

Our dog Tessa Jean was a large standard poodle who loved to hunt and had to be kept on a leash during our desert hikes. To protect the animals and land, dogs are not allowed in the Sabino Canyon Recreation Area.

Contact Judi Moreillon at: info@storytrail.com

Last updated: 25 January 2017

 

© 2001-2017 Judi Moreillon