Michelle Ferguson-Cohen
Encyclopedia
Michelle Ferguson-Cohen is a children's book author
, illustrator
and publisher. Her father is a career military officer and Vietnam veteran
. As a military brat
herself, many of the picture book
s she develops are written for and feature military brats.
Ferguson-Cohen established Little Redhaired Girl Publishing to publish her books as part of a series she entitled Books for Brats to encourage pride in the term "Military Brat" outside the military community. Ferguson-Cohen's goal was to create material that would appeal to all children and introduce their military family neighbors. Though self-published, her titles "Daddy, You're My Hero!" and "Mommy, You're My Hero!" have reportedly reached hundreds of thousands of youthful readers through both targeted and broad based marketing. They were first published in 2001 and are in their 3rd edition. The books have also been used in the classrooms as material to promote tolerance and understanding amongst peers, and distributed to both commercial and civilian outlets.
Books for Brats were early to recognize and service the "suddenly military" families of the National Guard and Reserves. During the first deployments of the Iraq War, Ferguson-Cohen worked with Family Readiness Groups nationwide to host readings. She was able to obtain recommendations by many educational, medical and child development experts suggesting that her books could be utilized to explain deployment and convey coping skills to children facing separation from a parent. They are also suggested as resources for their unique content, multicultural illustrations and representations of female soldiers.
Sought out by the press as an expert in the military community, she became an advocate for military brats promoting equal representation for the military community in the media.
Prior to her career as children's author and advocate for military brats, Ferguson-Cohen was a music industry entrepreneur who owned an agency based in New York and London. During her career in the entertainment industry she was involved celebrity charity events to raise funds for UK-based NGO War Child
. A writer and humorist, she is listed as a contributor to the Complete Idiot's Guide to Jokes.
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
, illustrator
Illustrator
An Illustrator is a narrative artist who specializes in enhancing writing by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text...
and publisher. Her father is a career military officer and Vietnam veteran
Vietnam veteran
Vietnam veteran is a phrase used to describe someone who served in the armed forces of participating countries during the Vietnam War.The term has been used to describe veterans who were in the armed forces of South Vietnam, the United States armed forces, and countries allied to them, whether or...
. As a military brat
Military brat
A military brat describes people who spend their childhood or adolescence while a parent serve full-time in the armed forces, and can also refer to the unique subculture and lifestyle of American military brats, the term refers to both current and former children of such families.Lifestyle: The...
herself, many of the picture book
Picture book
A picture book combines visual and verbal narratives in a book format, most often aimed at young children. The images in picture books use a range of media such as oil paints, acrylics, watercolor and pencil.Two of the earliest books with something like the format picture books still retain now...
s she develops are written for and feature military brats.
Career
Ferguson-Cohen wrote, illustrated and published the first commercially available children's books for military brats. and the first children's picture books for children coping with deployment. She has been called the "Dr. Seuss for Military Brats" in a Washington Times article that was laudatory in tone about her books' ability to help children understand about their parent's military deployments.Ferguson-Cohen established Little Redhaired Girl Publishing to publish her books as part of a series she entitled Books for Brats to encourage pride in the term "Military Brat" outside the military community. Ferguson-Cohen's goal was to create material that would appeal to all children and introduce their military family neighbors. Though self-published, her titles "Daddy, You're My Hero!" and "Mommy, You're My Hero!" have reportedly reached hundreds of thousands of youthful readers through both targeted and broad based marketing. They were first published in 2001 and are in their 3rd edition. The books have also been used in the classrooms as material to promote tolerance and understanding amongst peers, and distributed to both commercial and civilian outlets.
Books for Brats were early to recognize and service the "suddenly military" families of the National Guard and Reserves. During the first deployments of the Iraq War, Ferguson-Cohen worked with Family Readiness Groups nationwide to host readings. She was able to obtain recommendations by many educational, medical and child development experts suggesting that her books could be utilized to explain deployment and convey coping skills to children facing separation from a parent. They are also suggested as resources for their unique content, multicultural illustrations and representations of female soldiers.
Sought out by the press as an expert in the military community, she became an advocate for military brats promoting equal representation for the military community in the media.
Prior to her career as children's author and advocate for military brats, Ferguson-Cohen was a music industry entrepreneur who owned an agency based in New York and London. During her career in the entertainment industry she was involved celebrity charity events to raise funds for UK-based NGO War Child
War Child
War Child or Warchild may refer to:* Child soldiers, children who are used in war, as soldiers or in combat support* Military brat, military slang for a child or teenager of a military family* Refugee, children who are refugees of war...
. A writer and humorist, she is listed as a contributor to the Complete Idiot's Guide to Jokes.