Michael Sampson
If you had been Michael Sampson's third grade teacher, you would have
called him a "dreamer." His eyes would often "glaze" over and his mind
would be a thousand miles away...or maybe even millions of miles away in another corner of
the universe. By the time he reached fifth grade, he had read every book in the Tom Bean,
Texas school library. He had written a series of books featuring Frank and Joe of the
Hardy Boys fame, and even had a poem published in a national magazine. In sixth grade he
joined the school's Junior High football team, and received the inspiration for a book he
would publish 30 years later--The Football That Won... He lived
for football and books in grades 6-12. As a senior, he was a captain on the Tom Bean
Tomcats football team, where he won the school's academic award and was named to the Class
B Texas State All Star Team.
He attended and graduated from East Texas State University, where he majored in political science and received his elementary teaching certificate. During the next few years, Sampson taught Kindergarten through sixth grades, and received much press coverage for his innovative stances toward teaching.
Sampson continued his education at The University of Arizona, where he worked under Dr. Roach Van Allen and Dr. Kenneth Goodman, as he earned a Ph.D. in Reading. During that time, in 1977, he met and established a lifelong friendship and professional relationship with a new mentor and colleague, children's author Bill Martin Jr.
In 1980 Sampson accepted a faculty position at Texas A&M University--Commerce. In 1986 he published his first professional book, The Pursuit of Literacy. Four years later he published the creative, theme based literature program Experiences with Literacy, which was co-authored by Bill Teale and Roach Van Allen. In 1992, Holt, Rinehart and Winston published his book on the language arts, Pathways to Literacy, coauthored with Mary Beth Sampson and Roach Van Allen. The second edition of Pathways to Literacy: Process Transactions was published in 1996; the third edition, Total Literacy: Reading, Writing and Learning debuts in 2003.
Through the years, Sampson continued to work with Bill Martin Jr, as the two inspired teachers in 50 weeklong workshops throughout the United States. More that 40,000 educators were captivated and informed by the two and the Pathways to Literacy Conferences.
The 1990's saw Sampson move into the children's market as an author. To date, he has had 18 children's books published. His books Yummy Tum Tee and Si Won's Victory are favorites of children. In 1996, his The Football That Won.. quickly became a best seller. Star of the Circus, with Mary Beth Sampson, was written after watching their son's kindergarten circus. S w i s h, co-authored with Bill Martin Jr., quickly became a must read for young girls.
His Adam, Adam, What Do You See received a starred review in Publishers Weekly. Sampson had 3 new books with Bill Martin in Fall 2001--a fun, rollicking number book called Rock It, Sock It, Number Line!; a classic bedtime story The Little Squeegy Bug; and a football comedy--Little Granny Quarterback.
He is currently working on an exciting story based upon a mall shopping trip; in addition, his heart-moving story of two boys and the dog they come to love (Caddie the Golf Dog) will be published in the fall of 2002. Floyd Cooper is the illustrator.
Michael and Bill's I Pledge Allegiance will be out in August, and is a love story to our country--the USA!
Michael with Bill Martin Jr -- Oct 2000
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Purchase autographed Michael Sampson Books online
More books by Michael Sampson Cornerstone: Michael Sampson Collection
Link to Children's Book Council (includes tips for aspiring writers)