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I am an award-winning author and a former teacher/librarian. I live in Oklahoma with my husband. We have two sons. I'm the author of four picture books published by Pelican Publishing Co. I have five picture books and a haiku/photography book published by Doodle and Peck Publishing Co. I have one book published by SFA University Press. I'm often found signing books at schools, libraries, and museums.
The best way to find me is to email me at unabelle1@gmail.com.
I'm on Instagram and Pinterest. unabelletownsend.blogspot.com
For many years, I was a classroom teacher, librarian, reading teacher, and ESL teacher. I wrote many grants, and I was a and 4-H leader. I was also chosen Teacher of the Year three times.
The Riverside Elementary School District in El Reno, OK, honored me by naming the school library the Una Belle Townsend Honorary Library for my "commitment to children and reading."
I was the very first Oklahoma Ag in the Classroom Teacher of the Year, and was also chosen as Canadian County Citizen of the Year. I was recognized in 2017 as one of the “Significant Women in Oklahoma Agriculture” and Oklahoma’s 2019 Ag in the Classroom Ag Advocate.
In 2017, I received a Creative Woman of Achievement in Poetry Award from Delta Kappa Gamma for my book, Sunsets and Haiku. I wrote the haiku for the book, and took photographs of Oklahoma sunsets to accompany the book.
I enjoy writing stories about Oklahoma and animals and often combine the two when I write. I enjoy photography, crafts, and writing haiku.
I received an Oklahoma Center for the Book Award and an IRA/ Children’s Choice Award for my book, Grady’s in the Silo. My book is about the cow that jumped in a silo back in 1949 in Yukon. It has been read by many teachers working on farm units. The land where Grady roamed in Oklahoma was part of the Chisholm Trail and also a part of the land in the first land run in 1889.
I received an Oklahoma Writer’s Federation Best Juvenile Book Award for my book, The Great Elephant Escape. This story of two elephants escaping from the circus grounds in Hugo, OK in 1975 made headlines for weeks until the elephants were found.
My Oklahoma Land Run is often read to students during pioneer days/western days and school land run events. My presentation includes displaying items such as a rug beater, a branding iron, sad irons, quilts, and bonnets which would have been found around the time of the land run.
My Racecar Driver's Night Before Christmas, was in the "Night Before Christmas" series created by Pelican Pub. Co. A group of Boy Scouts in Tennessee picked this Christmas book to represent their float entry in the local Christmas parade. I traveled from Oklahoma to Tennessee to see the float the boys made depicting the race car. I also rode in the truck pulling the float.
My picture book, Toby and the Secret Code, is a multicultural book which includes some information about Oklahoma’s Choctaw code talkers in World War I. It has a glossary and a section of Choctaw words in the back. It’s the first in a series of Choctaw Adventure stories.
The second book in the Choctaw Adventures series is Ben and the Missing Pony. The book includes information about the Choctaw ponies and the efforts by many individuals to keep this breed from becoming extinct. It also includes some Choctaw language.
In my picture book, Scanner, Miss Copywright, the school’s librarian, finds a Scottie puppy that needs a home and a name. Scanner’s job is to listen to children read in the school library. He also has a BIG secret. This book is the first in a series of Scanner stories.
Scanner and the Icky, Sticky Gum, is the second book in the “Scanner the Scottie” series. The little Scottie falls head first into a trash can and then there’s this gum problem.
In the book, Clancy, a goat discovers a new delicious item to eat on the farm. It causes quite a ruckus as he searches for this tasty treat.
In the book, Blazer’s Taxi, a Clydesdale who became the mascot for the Oklahoma City Blazer’s Hockey team, has a problem and a friend who helps him solve it.
I may be reached at unabelle1@gmail.com. Look for me on Pinterest, Instagram, Linkedin, Facebook, and at unabelletownsend.blogspot.com.
Many of my books are also in ebook format. They are available through 24symbols, Playstar, OverDrive, Bibliotheca, Baker & Taylor, Rakuen Kobo, Apple Books, SCRIBD, Tolino, and hoopla.