Julia Cook

Julia Cook is a national award-winning children’s author, parenting expert, and former school counselor and teacher whose work focuses on social-emotional learning and life skills for children. Born and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah, she began her career teaching children how to ski, an experience that helped spark her passion for education, and she later earned a master’s degree in elementary school counseling. While working as an elementary school guidance counselor, she started writing children’s books to support her lessons, a path that has led to nearly 100 published titles and approximately two million books in print, used in schools across the United States and in multiple languages.

Cook is the author of numerous well-known titles, including My Mouth Is a Volcano!, a picture book that addresses interrupting and respectful listening; A Flicker of Hope, which focuses on emotional well-being and resilience; and Teach Kids, Not Content: How to Connect with Students and Love Teaching Again, a guide for educators drawing on her classroom and counseling experience. She has presented in thousands of schools, speaks regularly at national education and counseling conferences, and lives in Fremont, Nebraska.