‘It’s Never Too Late’: An Interview with Children’s Book Author Gail Schlenger

June 3, 2025

In 2020, Gail Schlenger, a long-time resident of Tarrytown, faced a dilemma.  Forced by COVID to retire after 40 years as an educator in the Chappaqua School District, she didn’t know what to do. But as they say, “necessity is the mother of invention,” and she just published her first children’s book on Amazon, with at least two more on the way. Alexander Roberts recently interviewed Ms. Schlenger for The Hudson Independent.

Alexander Roberts:  What led up to this milestone in your life?

Gail Schlenger: I always wanted to teach…I knew that even in high school where I joined the “Future Teachers of America” club! I didn’t originally choose special education as my focus, but when a high school special education position became available, I took it and never looked back. Throughout my career, I worked hard to help my students become more confident, capable learners, despite the challenges they faced. I encouraged them to find their strengths, and to approach their education and the challenges in their lives with patience, persistence, and resilience.

AR: Why did you leave your career as an educator?

GS: I was a special educator in the same high school—Horace Greeley in Chappaqua—for over 40 years. Although I knew I would eventually retire, retirement wasn’t on my radar screen quite yet—until COVID hit. Since I was in a more vulnerable age group, I petitioned the district to teach remotely, if only for a few weeks until, I was certain, the district would resort to fully remote teaching. My petition was declined, and as it turns out, my crystal ball was incorrect: the district adopted a hybrid model and never returned to fully remote teaching and learning. At that point, I had to make one of the most difficult decisions of my life, to end a very long career without any pre-planning, without having any time to process the decision and memorialize my career with colleagues and students. The decision was fraught with so many emotions: anger, sadness, regret, disappointment.

This decision, among many other challenges in my life, presented me with the opportunity to summon my inner strength, the way I’ve always dealt with adversity – -by acknowledging the feelings, and then moving beyond them by setting goals for myself and working hard to achieve them with determination, persistence, and resilience.  They are the qualities that I’ve infused into the main characters in my books.

AR: So, how did you make lemonade out of lemons?

GS: When I first left employment, I shared my emotions with colleagues who had already retired. They assured me that when the emotions subsided, I’d love retirement.  And yes, they were right! Suddenly, no more 6:00 a.m. awakenings, food prep, some of the more challenging parts of the job, wishing for snow days. Now, every day was a snow day!!

Probably one of the reasons I wasn’t ready to retire, was my concern about what I would do instead. What would be my purpose each day? What would a structured day look like? I didn’t have a particular skill or ability to fall back on, or even a goal for myself.

So, I spent the first couple of COVID years keeping busy, creating a structure in which I could live and find joy. I found online fitness classes, went for long walks, enjoyed ordering from Instacart and trying new recipes, did puzzles with my husband, and communicated virtually with family and friends.

I suppose there were signs that I was drawn to writing, but I never connected it with a post-retirement career. Many years ago, I wrote three children’s stories but set them aside to focus on my education, work, and eventually family. Inspired by an experience I had with my children when they were young, I wrote a human-interest story which was published in The New York Times (“Walks Focus on a Wildflower”).

Starting from Square One

Then, a little over two years into COVID, I happened upon the name of a person who had taught with me for a brief time. She’s a writing tutor; although she doesn’t tutor children’s book writers, she made some suggestions, one of which led to a long-time mentorship with a published children’s book author. Almost immediately, I learned that those stories I had written years ago weren’t good at all! Children’s picture book writing is a craft, and I discovered very quickly that I had to start from square one to learn it. I was determined to hone my skills, and my determination and persistence resulted in several publishable manuscripts.

I then tried the traditional publishing route. There were some nibbles, but nothing materialized. Then, a speaker at a webinar talked about self-publishing. It sounded daunting. One thing I’ve learned along this journey is that when you reach out to others for help, they are very generous with their time and expertise. I contacted the speaker, and after an hour on the phone, he demystified the process of self-publishing. When I thought about my goal – getting my books into children’s hands – I realized that I could do it, and my journey began.

Along the way, I submitted some stories to Highlights High Five magazine. One was published in the March 2025 issue. It was thrilling to see my story illustrated and in print!

I kept writing. I worked with (and continue to work with) another children’s book author and editor. I found an illustrator and completed my first book. Papa Boar Snored is published and making its way into children’s hands.  Seeing that book in print, holding a copy in my hands – it’s surreal! I can’t believe that I am now a published author!

AR: What do you hope to accomplish with your writing?

GS: When I was teaching, connection was important to me. No matter the grade level or subject, when I established a connection with students, the students were always more open to learning, to learning how to learn, and to accepting their challenges and capitalizing on their strengths.

I write for several reasons: definitely to entertain, to bring smiles to children’s faces. But as with my teaching, I want to foster connection. When children read my books, I hope they will connect with the characters, with the emotions they experience, with the obstacles they face, and perhaps children will internalize the importance of persistence, patience, resilience, and resourcefulness when solving their own problems just as the characters do in my books.

Connection also comes with children and their readers. From this connection, I hope children will develop a true love of reading. If, in some small way, my books can help foster connections, then I will have achieved my goal. And when a child says, “Read it again,” that’s music to my ears.

AR: Who are the people who helped you the most?

GS: I have had the support of so many people on this journey. My mentors, other aspiring children’s book authors whom I’ve met over the past few years, my husband, my family, my friends…all have continually encouraged me to follow my dreams, and all have celebrated my success as a new picture book author. Both of my daughters and my grandsons have willingly served as beta readers. One of my daughters has spent hours helping me with my website. Two Westchester bookstore owners have welcomed me and will offer my book for sale. A local Tarrytown business owner agreed to help me promote my book. I feel very fortunate to have lots of people cheering me on and helping me get my book into children’s hands.

Printed Books vs. Digital Media

I don’t have a crystal ball, but I believe books will endure and always hold a special place in children’s lives. Yes, digital media is fun and engaging, but so are books. I believe there can be a balance between both. I cannot stress enough how important it is for children to read, so I suppose where they read doesn’t matter, as long as they’re reading. But I’m still a holdout for hard copy books. I believe they absolutely must be made available to children – at home, daycare, preschool, and of course in school itself.  As long as caregivers and educators make books an integral part of a child’s life, they will never be replaced. I am trying to contribute to this effort by donating my book to libraries, daycare centers, preschools, pediatrician’s offices – anywhere there are children.  I also plan to donate my books to communities that lack the resources to provide books to children.

 AR: What’s next for Gail Schlenger?

GS: I have several manuscripts waiting to be published. The two I’ve chosen to publish next should be available at summer’s end. I will be reading my book to children at a local library in June. I’ve partnered with a new mom who reads children’s books on her  YouTube channel…she told me that her reading of Papa Boar Snored garnered more views than any of her other readings! I plan to participate in book fairs and festivals in the coming months, and possibly some podcasts. I would welcome any opportunity to read my book to children. Please reach out to me if you are interested: gailschlenger.author@gmail.com.  I welcome visitors to my website: gailschlengerauthor.com. Please take a look around the site; it’s a work in progress. I will be adding lots more in the coming weeks. Do leave your email address so I can let you know when my new books will be available.  And I’d love for you to take a peek at Papa Boar Snored:  https://a.co/d/0XRh3Oa. I hope it brings smiles!

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