About Me

Hanna Schock, picture book lover here. I have many loves besides the passion you see here for picture books. My first love is for my family, my husband and best friend, Bill, my 2 young adult children, Julianna & Josiah, and our large extended family. Friends are also essential treasures of my abundant life. When I’m with those I love most, life is abundant indeed.

I have had the privilege of being raised and surrounded by the loving and grace-filled ways of United Methodists. Being a Christian is central to who I am and how I view the world, but for PBT, I hope to offer ideas that cross boundaries of denomination and even religion. We all want better sacred learning that will lead to better living. At PBT this happens by finding The Holy in The Ordinary.

My other important experiences that critically inform my work are my years as a mom, public & home school teacher, small group facilitator, curriculum writer/designer, and especially my training as a school psychologist. Crucial to my perspective is living in Birmingham, AL, where the scars of racism and the hopes of The Civil Rights Movement. For decades I have attended First United Methodist Church, where only 2 blocks away a bomb at 16^th Street Baptist Church killed 4 young girls. For these reasons, you’ll see many books about acceptance, inclusion, peace, diversity, social justice, & civil rights all connected to scripture. 

I delight in considering how children and adults might best learn a particular concept and then offering ideas for various settings. At PBT, I’ll be demonstrating how secular pictures books might benefit congregations, classroom students, or kin. For more on how this happens, read my tab "About Using Picture Books for Theological Education." 

As you might have guessed, I’m an avid reader. I’m convinced that the world is a better place when people read stories. Besides picture books, I read mostly fiction and spiritual writing. My adult fiction interests are diverse and range from the gritty writing of Tana French and Kate Atkinson to Nora Roberts' Sci Fi series. My favorite is The Maisie Dobbs mystery series! There is much that is Holy in Maisie! You'll likely find books from these spiritual writers in my den: J. Philip Newell, Barbara Brown Taylor, Brian McLaren, Rob Bell, Parker Palmer, Sue Monk Kidd, Richard Rohr, and Jan Richardson. Recently I have become a big fan of The Enneagram and the work of Suzanne Stabile. She has helped this 7 become more healthy, happy, and present in my spiritual journey.

In April of 2014, I embarked on a daring journey of posting a picture book a day for 365 days. I fervently believed that God wanted me to make this offering to you. I have expanded this work to workshop presentations and sacred lessons based on the best PBT books. Let's keep building The Kindom (sic) of God while finding The Sacred in The Ordinary in pages of profound, beautiful picture books. May you be blessed by my work.