About Danielle

Danielle L. DeFauw, Ph.D., is Professor of Reading and Language Arts in the College of Education, Health, and Human Services at the University of Michigan – Dearborn. Her sincerest passion is writing middle grade and young adult novels filled with hope about tough topics. She loves the power of story in all its forms and is committed to write the kinds of books she empowers teachers to use to support their elementary and secondary students’ literacy and socio-emotional development. 

Danielle’s book, Engaging Teachers, Students, and Families in K–6 Writing Instruction: Developing Effective Flipped Writing Pedagogies, published by Routledge in 2020, details her K-6 writing methods course designed to support preservice teachers’ development of their teacher-writer voices and use of authentic writing instruction to support students’ writing development. Co-chair of the University’s former Young Authors’ Festival, she has published over 30 articles, namely two published by the International Literacy Association exploring motivational factors inherent in year-long author visits and writing contests. In 2022, she published an article exploring student-directed interviews with Chris Crowe, YA author of Mississippi Trial, 1955. Currently, she is co-researching the Etisalat Award for Arabic Children’s Literature to explore the award’s impact on the quality of children’s literature since 2009.

Danielle has contracted two work-for-hire photo-illustrated hi/lo NF books for secondary students written for 3rd/4th and 5th/6th reading levels, one that was published by BrightPoint Press in 2024 titled Anime and Manga: Genres and Themes and another that will be completed in 2024. Danielle learned about educational publishing in 2020 through a virtual, six-week workshop through the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. Interested in supporting educational publishing, she continues to seek freelance opportunities. She specializes in writing for K–5 due to her decade-long experience as a third-grade teacher and literacy coach with certifications in ELA, early childhood, and K-12 literacy coaching. She is also confident writing for secondary grades, researching topics, annotating sources, and meeting editorial requirements efficiently.

Although she has experienced success with academic writing, she will never give up on her childhood dream of becoming a children’s book author, writing novels and picturebooks. Danielle cannot wait to use her literacy expertise within author visit opportunities to motivate children, adolescents, families, and teachers to write their stories.