Biography

Donalyn Miller is an award-winning teacher, author, and professional development facilitator who has taught upper elementary and middle school language arts and social studies in Texas. Her teaching awards include TCTELA’s Elementary Language Arts Teacher of the Year (2011) and TEA State Finalist Texas Elementary Teacher of the Year (2010). In 2018, Donalyn was awarded TCTELA’s Edmund J. Farrell Distinguished Lifetime Achievement Award for her contributions to the language arts teaching profession. 

Donalyn is the author or co-author of several books about creating engaging and inclusive reading communities for all young people, including  The Book Whisperer (2009), Reading in the Wild  (2013), Game Changer: Book Access for All Kids  (co-written with Colby Sharp, 2018), The Joy of Reading (co-written with Teri Lesesne, 2022) and The Commonsense Guide to Your Classroom Library (co-written with Colby Sharp, 2022). Her articles about teaching and engaging readers have appeared in publications such as Gifted Child International,  Education Week Teacher,  The Reading Teacher, Voices From the Middle, Educational Leadership,  Horn Book, School Library Journal, and  The Washington Post.

From 2014 to 2019, Donalyn served as Scholastic Book Fairs’ Ambassador of Independent Reading Advocacy. In this role, Donalyn traveled to conferences and schools as a reading ambassador, sat on several Scholastic Book Fairs’ advisory boards, and hosted the web-based teaching tips and book talk show – The Book Whisperer: Back to the Books. Along with School Library Ambassador, John Schu, Donalyn co-edited the Reader Leader blog and co-hosted Scholastic Book Fairs’ annual Reading Summits. 

Through her conference presentations, workshops, school visits, published works, and online collaborations with colleagues, Donalyn shares the importance of independent reading and provides suggestions and resources that foster children’s love of reading and the development of positive reading identities. Presentations include current and timeless research; classroom rituals and routines that support engaging  and inclusive  reading communities; classroom, school, and home library development; book recommendations; practical reading and writing strategies and instructional moves; and personal stories about the power of independent reading and student choice. 

With her collaborator Colby Sharp, Donalyn co-founded The Nerdy Book Club blog, which provides inspiration, book recommendations, resources, and advice about raising and teaching young readers. She is also the founder of the summer reading challenge, #bookaday.

Donalyn and her husband, Don, have two grown daughters and three grandchildren. They live in San Antonio atop their dragons’ hoards of books and comics.