Mama Stout Reads
I wish I’d noticed earlier how magical children’s thoughts truly are. Teaching high schoolers (and not scaring them off with letters-as-numbers) has been a gift, but even more, they’ve opened my eyes to their world and challenges. As a mom, I learned to cherish how littles see this big, confusing place—like my daughter asking me to “wind up her pencil please” to sharpen it, or my son wondering, “Where do boogers go when you wipe them on the carpet?”
My goal as an author is to create stories parents can read with their kids, then truly listen as the children add their own ideas. Listen to your kids—they’re so intuitive and always need your love and validation.
“Find what you like and do it on purpose” – Dolly Parton
or
“you make a path by walking the direction you need to go.”
(Of course, finding the stuff you like should probably NOT be illegal…lol)
Pull Up a Chair
Welcome, dear friends!
I’m Mama Stout: retired math teacher, lifelong number-lover, and—most importantly—writer of gentle, whimsical stories for children. After 37 years of chalkboards and teenagers, I now spend my days sending little adventures out into the world, the same ones I once whispered to my own children at bedtime.
Pull up a cozy chair, look around, and stay as long as you like. I’m so glad you’re here.
Love,
Mama Stout
Mama Stout’s Books
Hunter’s world is the salty-sweet smell of his family’s seaside café on the Maryland shore, USA—a beloved spot passed down from his great-grandparents. But one low-tide clamming adventure changes everything when he meets Sir Crab, an ancient blue crab full of wisdom, and Sharky, a gentle nurse shark who proves friends can come in surprising shapes.
Through their ocean friendship, Hunter discovers the magic of Maryland tides, the secret lives of sea creatures, and how even a kid can help protect the waters he loves.
A heartwarming Maryland seaside tale that sparks curiosity about marine life, nurtures care for the environment, and shows young readers that one small heart can make waves for the future.
As with the other books that I have written, this one came to me in a flash. Not as completely as There's a Train or Hunter's story but the phrase 'Loving you now is quite handy' was playing in my head as I woke up one morning in 2023. I quickly wrote a few (surprised me) rhyming lines and by the end of the week the poem was written. My idea was to have snapshots of the children in my life in the book. Not being very artistic in my photography I asked a few colleagues to help me so that I could put the pictures to the rhyme. A student shared the app Procreate with me on my ipad and I began to make the photos into pictures. I was not really very good at the coloring part. So, I asked a former student that I knew was an art major and teacher's assistant to put it together for me. That is why the illustrations are a little plain. I wanted the people in my life to recognize themselves but also change them enough so that these could be people from anywhere.
This book is a sort of Love letter to children everywhere. I want all of them to know that it never really matters what they do or like in the future. What matters is them knowing that they are loved just as they are whatever time or season they are in.
When I was a young mom of two children and working full time as a High School Math instructor we lived closer to town and there was a train that would pass through at around 2 am. Of course being that it was going through near cross roads into places there were homes, it would let out long train whistles. When Jacob, my three year old, would come get me out of bed he would say, "Mama, there's a train in my room." I was very tired and one night he asked me about it and I told him "I wish I could write you a story so that when you are awakened by it, you wouldn't be scared." After tucking his older sister in, I went downstairs and the words to the story flew to the page of my spiral notebook. After I read the story to my daughter and son the next night, Jacob only woke me up one more time and when I reminded him to think about the story, he ran upstairs and never woke me up about the train again. I finally was able to get some much needed sleep for work.
The Heart Behind the Pages
My mission is to write gentle, joyful stories that wrap children in wonder and leave them feeling lighter, braver, and a little more curious than before.
I want every book to spark imagination, stir a hunger for learning, and invite big dreams (the kind that send a child outside to build, explore, and create instead of endlessly scrolling).
These are stories meant for cozy bedtime reading, classroom shelves, and library corners, places where a child can slip away for a happy escape whenever the world feels too heavy.
Notes From Mama Stout
What is one children’s book that sticks out in my mind as always a good read or re-read?
If you or your children have never read The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Willams (Bianca), this would be one of the first books I would encourage. It was written in 1922. It is a gem that has sparked imaginations from then until now. I cannot say if I knew about it until I was in college. My sophomore year my roommate was an English minor and taking an early childhood literary course. She always had children’s books lying around. This was one….but I really fell in love with it as a mom. Then in the 1990s the Disney film ToyStory came out and tho no one has ever said that the writers of that story and others were influenced by Ms. Williams book, I thought about how it could have been in the lives of the writers’ childhood. Toys coming to life. Just thinking about those two stories makes me smile and feel incredible warmth. Sometime, pick up a copy of this book. The illustrations by William Nicholson (tho not as many as books today) are very well done. Be ready for a challenge in the words used to describe things. Don’t be afraid to read it in small ‘bites’ so you can check the history behind the early 1900’s as well as a quick dictionary check for some of the language. But the love that a child has for their toys that they play with is magical.
When Imagination Is the Best App on the Tablet!
A smiling reminder that the most powerful “screen” a child can stare at is the one inside their own head, and how books are the original no-battery-required portal.
About The Author
Mama Stout grew up in the same small town where she would later spend 36 joyful years teaching math at her old high school (with one extra year in Kentucky along the way). Numbers have always been her happy place—though she’ll smile and admit she sometimes loves them just a little too much.
When her oldest child started as a freshman, the students began calling her “Mama Stout,” and the nickname stuck to her heart like glue. Years later, as one of the longest-serving teachers and a proud alumna who still knew every word of the alma mater, she happily became known as the “Alma Mama,” leading the school in song at every game and assembly.
When her own two children were six and three, she started writing gentle, whimsical bedtime stories just for them. Those stories waited quietly for many years until she finally decided to share them with the world.
And that, dear reader, is how Mama Stout went from solving equations on chalkboards to sprinkling imagination between the pages of children’s books—one joyful story at a time.
