Michelle Ferguson-Cohen
| Michelle Ferguson-Cohen | |
|---|---|
| File:Michelle Ferguson-Cohen and a group of children.jpg | |
| Born | Ft. Benning, United States |
| Occupation | author, illustrator, publisher |
| Genre | Children's books |
| Notable works | Daddy, You're My Hero! |
| Website | |
| www |
|
Michelle Ferguson-Cohen is a children's book author, illustrator and publisher. Her father is a career military officer and Vietnam veteran. As a military brat herself, many of the picture books she develops are written for and feature military brats.
Career
Ferguson-Cohen wrote, illustrated and published the first commercially available children's books for military brats.[1] and the first children's picture books for children coping with deployment.[2][3] She has been called the "Dr. Seuss for Military Brats" in a Washington Times article that was laudatory in tone about her books' ability to help children understand about their parent's military deployments.[4]
Ferguson-Cohen established Little Redhaired Girl Publishing to publish her books as part of a series she entitled Books for Brats to encourage pride in the term "Military Brat" outside the military community. Ferguson-Cohen's goal was to create material that would appeal to all children and introduce their military family neighbors. Though self-published, her titles "Daddy, You're My Hero!" and "Mommy, You're My Hero!" have reportedly reached hundreds of thousands of youthful readers[5] through both targeted and broad based marketing. They were first published in 2001 and are in their 3rd edition.[1] The books have also been used in the classrooms as material to promote tolerance and understanding amongst peers, and distributed to both commercial and civilian outlets.[6]
Books for Brats were early to recognize and service the "suddenly military" families of the National Guard and Reserves.[7] During the first deployments of the Iraq War, Ferguson-Cohen worked with Family Readiness Groups nationwide to host readings.[8][9][10][11][12] She was able to obtain recommendations by many educational, medical and child development experts[13] suggesting that her books could be utilized to explain deployment and convey coping skills to children facing separation from a parent.[14][15][16] They are also suggested as resources for their unique content, multicultural illustrations and representations of female soldiers.[17]
Sought out by the press as an expert in the military community,[18][19][20][21] she became an advocate for military brats promoting equal representation for the military community in the media.
Prior to her career as children's author and advocate for military brats, Ferguson-Cohen was a music industry entrepreneur[22] who owned an agency based in New York and London. During her career in the entertainment industry she was involved celebrity charity events to raise funds for UK-based NGO War Child.[citation needed] A writer and humorist, she is listed as a contributor to the Complete Idiot's Guide to Jokes.[23]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Bookcatcher Books for Brats Marks 5 Years Helping Children Cope With Deployment
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Fayetteville Observer[dead link]
- ↑ The Washington Times; Military children's story told, Books explain 'hero' parents[dead link]
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ de:Amerikanische Kinder- und Jugendliteratur
- ↑ Bookcatcher
- ↑ Life Transformed[dead link]
- ↑ Ft. Bragg Deployment Resources[dead link]
- ↑ Resources for FRG Deployment[dead link]
- ↑ OMK Hero Packs[dead link]
- ↑ Yuma Deployment Readiness
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Military Homeschoolers[dead link]
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Complete Idiot's Guide to Jokes: see index page 308
Bibliography
- Daddy, You're My Hero! (Little Redhaired Girl Publishing, 2001,) ISBN 978-0-9729264-4-7
- Mommy, You're My Hero! (Little Redhaired Girl Publishing, 2001,) ISBN 978-0-9729264-3-0
- Walk This Way, New York Magazine
External links
- Articles with dead external links from December 2011
- Use mdy dates from December 2011
- Pages with broken file links
- Articles with unsourced statements from October 2012
- Military brats
- American children's writers
- American comedy writers
- American humorists
- American women illustrators
- American screenwriters
- American women screenwriters
- Living people
- New York University alumni
- Women children's writers
- Women humorists
