Janice D. Green, author

Finding joy in nature – Get outside!

I grew up in northern Indiana before we felt the need for an air conditioner. The only phones were connected by wire to a phone jack on the wall. The earliest phone I remember was a wooden box attached to the wall. We turned a crank to get the operator and told her who we wanted to talk to. Then she connected us to their line.

The only mail we got was delivered to our mailbox every day. Email was unheard of. In my earliest years, there was no TV, only a radio. I remember sitting on it so we could hear it with less static.

Before anyone finds a reason to think of me as deprived, I insist that the exact opposite is true. I had the privilege of finding newborn kittens in the barn, hunting morel mushrooms in the woods, floating in an animal watering trough in a swamp in the middle of a field, sitting in an apple tree and discovering a stick that turned into an inchworm. I found another stick that was really a spider. I could go on and on.

Outside ABCs – peek inside with this trailer

Kevin Collier did an outstanding job of creating a trailer for Outside ABCs. Click on the picture to watch it:

The Backstory of Outside ABCs

When persistence paid off

I am a rare author who grew up as a reluctant reader. To this day, my reading preference is for children’s literature, which is what I write. I remember enjoying theme-writing in my senior English class. There was something about writing on what I cared about that appealed to me.

I also wrote a few poems in high school. A classmate challenged me to write a few stanzas on a poem she had started. That was fun, so I wrote a few more poems. Since my father taught science and English in high school, I showed him my poems. He pointed out so many things that were wrong with them that I decided writing poetry was too hard, and I would never write them.

Flower Doll from an Althea Bush

When I was a little girl in Indiana my aunt showed me how to make a doll from the flower of the Althea Rose of Sharon bush. It grew in the front yard of our farm. The petals made a lovely long dress and the doll’s head was the unopened bud of another flower. A few years ago we were visiting my husband’s family in upstate New York when I noticed the same flowers blooming all around and took advantage of the opportunity to make one again.

To make this flower doll:

Outside ABCs by Janice D. Green, ill by Jonathan Huff

I am beside myself with excitement! Outside ABCs released in April 2026. My gifted grandson, Jonathan Huff, is the illustrator.

These are the fantastic endorsements that were written about the book, even before Jonathan Huff’s amazing images and Ambassador International’s whimsical layouts were applied:

“As kids follow the alphabet, they will not only learn interesting facts about nature, they will also be inspired to explore the great outdoors. Did you know fiddleheads are a sign of spring and that velvet ants are wasps? Written in whimsical rhythm and rhyme, Outside ABCs is interesting, educational, and fun to read. The illustrations are creative, bright, and colorful and will capture the attention of every child who opens the book.” —Crystal Bowman (who also has had a chance to preview the completed PDF file with completed layout)

“The alphabet has never been so much fun! Janice Green’s Outside ABCs is a wonderful alphabet book, teaching children so many fun facts all written in effortless rhyme. The author’s descriptive language and rhythmic writing make this book a great addition to any library.” —Michelle Medlock Adams