Natalie Rompella (Author)
Natalie Rompella is the author of more than sixty books and resources for children, including the insect picture book The World Never Sleeps (Tilbury House), a 2019 IL Reads selection; the middle grade novel Cookie Cutters & Sled Runners (Sky Pony Press); and the writing workbook Secrets of Storytelling (Rockridge Press).
Natalie Rompella grew up in Waukegan, Illinois, and became interested in writing when, while getting her master's degree, she wrote a children's book about chemistry and her professor suggested she try to get it published. A former elementary and middle school teacher, she also worked as a museum educator and curriculum coordinator for the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum in Chicago. She works on writing two hours a day, seven days a week, and lives in the Chicago suburbs with her two kids, husband, and dog, where she enjoys playing pickleball, baking, and taking Zumba classes. Some of her other titles include Malik's Number Thoughts, a picture book about a boy learning to manage OCD; Don't Squash that Bug!, an insect guide for ages six through ten; Edgar, Allan and Poe and the Tell-Tale Beets; several science experiment books and workbooks supporting Next Generation Science Standards; and Famous Firsts, a middle-grade book on the birth of ten American sports.
