Mary Renck Jalongo is a teacher, writer and editor. As a classroom teacher, she taught preschool, first grade and second grade, worked with children and families of migrant farm workers, and taught in the laboratory preschool at the University of Toledo. Currently she is a professor at Indiana University of Pennsylvania where she earned the university-wide award for outstanding teaching and is the Coordinator of the Doctoral Program in Curriculum and Instruction. As a writer, Dr. Jalongo has authored and edited more than 25 books, many of them textbooks in the field of early childhood education, such as Early Childhood Language Arts (4th ed. Allyn & Bacon) and Creative Thinking and Arts-Based Learning (4th ed. Merrill/Prentice Hall), Exploring Your Role: An Introduction to Early Childhood Education (3rd ed., Merrill/Prentice Hall) and Major Trends and Issues in Early Childhood Education: Challenges, Controversies, and Insights (2nd ed. Teachers College Press). Recent publications include the second edition of a book for the National Association for the Education of Young Children, Young Children and Picture Books; a Teachers College Press book, Planning for Learning: Collaborative Approaches to Lesson Design and Review; and an edited book for the Association for Childhood Education International, The World’s Children and Their Companion Animals: Developmental and Educational Significance of the Child/Pet Bond. Additionally, she has earned three national awards for excellence in writing and numerous teaching awards. Dr. Jalongo has been the editor-in-chief of the Springer international publication, Early Childhood Education Journal, for twelve years.