← All Faculty

Crystal Bowman

Children’s Writing Mentor

Crystal Bowman is a bestselling, multi-award-winning author, who tackles tough topics with kid-friendly language and sweet stories. She has written more than 100 books for children and families.

Get To Know Crystal


Crystal Bowman is a former early childhood educator and bestselling, multi-award-winning author, who tackles tough topics with kid-friendly language and sweet stories. She has written more than 100 books for children and families, dozens of magazine articles and blogs, and has contributed to several compilation books. She also writes stories for Clubhouse Jr. magazine and lyrics for children’s piano music. She earned a degree in elementary education from Calvin University and studied early childhood development at the University of Michigan.

Crystal has written books for popular children’s series, such as Little Blessings, BOZ the Bear, I Can Read!, and The Berenstain Bears. She also writes devotions for children, Bible storybooks, and is the author of numerous board books including My Arms Will Hold You Tight, Good Morning, God Loves You, and M is for Manger. She and her daughter have co-authored nine titles for Our Daily Bread for Kids as well as Bible activity books. Her books have been translated into more than a dozen languages and have sold more than three million copies worldwide.

As a teacher and mentor at writers’ conferences, Crystal enjoys helping writers of children’s stories find the right voice and technique to reach a young audience. “You have to understand how children think and get into their world if you want to reach them,” she says.

Crystal and her husband live in Michigan and Florida and have eight huggable grandkids.

Breakout Session


Opportunities in the Children’s Market

Writing for children is fun, but fun does not mean easy—and the more you learn about writing for children, the harder it gets. There are many opportunities to write for children, but writers need to learn what publishers are looking for and how to write for specific markets.

In this session, writers will learn:

  • The variety of subgenres within children’s literature
  • Identifying your target audience
  • How to use literary devices and language to engage children
  • What types of children’s books publishers are looking for
  • Why picture books are a difficult to get published and challenging to market
  • The pros and cons of independent publishing and traditional publishing

15-Minute Appointments


If you want to write for children (ages 0-10), then we need to talk! I will listen to your ideas, or skim through something you have written. My feedback will help you know if your idea is marketable and where it would fit in the publishing world. There are many different subgenres in children’s literature, so it’s important to become familiar with them in order to know how to move forward with your story.

Ready To Register?

Don’t miss out on this amazing opportunity. Sign up now & join us at Speak Up 2023!