I was born in Rochester, Minnesota,
and now live in Rochester, New York.
Here I am at four years old with my family
--my sisters Mary and Marjorie and
my parents, Mayme and Al Hayles.
I have always liked to make up stories and poems. Fortunately, I had wonderful teachers who encouraged me to write.
Mrs.Blaufox, my second grade teacher at Folwell Elementary School, made improving our vocabulary fun. Each day she would introduce us to a new word, calling this our Word-A-Day-Diet. If we used the word correctly in a sentence, we would get the word with a little star below it. We all wanted those shiny stars very much. I’ve still kept many of mine!
Thanks to such great teachers, I wanted to become a teacher as well when I grew up. And I did. I taught junior high and high school English for many years.
Then once I had kids of my own, I rediscovered children’s books. Reading aloud books by Shirley Hughes, Patricia Hutchins, Ashley Woolf, Audrey and Don Wood, Margaret
Mahy, and Denise Fleming among others inspired me to become a writer.
And even though my own kids have grown up now, I still love reading and writing books for young people.
Top Row: Vivian Vande Velde, Marsha Hayles, Alice DeLacroix, Judy Bradbury Row 2: (left) Linda Sue Park, (right) Donna Farrell, Marsha Hayles Row 3: (left) Ellen Stoll Walsh, (right) Robin Pulver, Cynthia DeFelice
Copyright © 2005-2012 Marsha Hayles Site Design by Donna Farrell
Not only do I have the fun of getting to play and work with words, I also get to spend time with some great writers and illustrators. Here I am with my novel critique group—that’s me between Vivian VandeVelde and Alice DeLacroix with Judy Bradbury on the right. We meet regularly to work on our writing together—usually over some tasty dessert.
I also work one-on-one with Linda Sue Park. She is the busiest person I know—that’s what happens when you win the Newbery Medal—but we still find time to critique each other’s manuscripts and enjoy a hamburger and French fries together.
From time to time, I work with Robin Pulver, Cynthia DeFelice and Ellen Stoll Walsh, most often on picture books.
I’m also in an on-line, rhyming picture book group with Dori Chaconas, Stacy DeKeyser, Kelly DiPucchio, Shirley Neitzel, and Lisa Wheeler. Sorry, I don’t have any photos of these friends since we live in different states and don’t actually ever get to meet together in person!
Finally, I’ve been very fortunate to work with illustrator Donna Farrell on several projects—including our book Here’s a Cheer for Our Childfirst Day and this web site.
Spending time with my writer and illustrator friends has proven to be one of the greatest rewards of my career as a children’s author.