Like other seniors at The Storm King School, Taylor M. ’23, an 18-year-old from New Windsor, New York, has a very busy schedule as she prepares for graduation in June. When she is not attending classes, you can find Taylor participating in extracurricular activities, playing soccer and tennis, acting in the School’s stage performances, and practicing her dance routines. Recently, Taylor added another accomplishment to her list–she is a published author of a new children’s book.

The picture book titled The Adventures of Taya & B: Worms! is aimed at preschool children and is based on Taylor’s imagination and childhood experiences at home with her pets. According to Taylor’s father, who is her partner on the project, the book was a “passion project that we created together during the early stages of the pandemic and continued on weekends.”

“The characters are based on me, my pets and the real adventures we had in our backyard,” explained Taylor. “As early as I can remember, my dad and I would create these adventures on weekends, and our pets would always be involved. For story time every evening, we would make up stories based on that day’s adventures. That’s what inspired us to create the book.”

“The writing skills I learned at SKS helped me complete this project. For example, in my Introduction to Literature class with Mr. Gillett I learned how to write an adaptation of a literary piece by Edgar Allan Poe. Also, the intensive summer SKS film program with Mr. Kiperman helped hone my creative writing skills,” continued Taylor.

The Adventures of Taya & B: Worms! has been pre-released on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Bookbaby with an official launch date of April 28, 2023. Congratulations to Taylor for this creative accomplishment!