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Pricilla Jean Ball was born during the Depression, on December 2, 1933 in a log cabin in the Rio Grande County in Colorado. She listened to stories made up by her mother, and she later made up stories for her own children.

When she was three, she went to live at the Sacred Heart Orphanage and Boarding School in Colorado, where she struggled with Dyslexia. This made it difficult for her to learn to read, so she would memorize the stories until she knew them by heart. She was eventually found out and a caring teacher helped her to
overcome her handicap. These experiences combined to give her a love of storytelling.

In 2008, PJ published her first book, “Michael O’Brien and the Magic Hat.” She wrote it for her great-grandchildren but decided to share her stories with children who are growing up in circumstances not unlike those of the Depression years.

Six years and thirty-three titles later, PJ is still sharing and is well known in the U.S. as the “Christmas Book Lady” because she donates her books to 34 homeless shelters, and other childcare’s organizations in Oregon, Utah, California, Colorado, Kansas, Arkansas, North Dakota, Missouri and Texas. She began donating in 2009. So far, she has donated 11,500 of her books. Her stories contain lessons for the reader as they touch on subjects such as choosing friends, cherishing family, discovering beauty in everything and
everyone around you, accepting people as they are, and working to achieve your dreams.

PJ believes that the illustrations in her books are the most-important element when it comes to capturing the attention of a young reader. On an “About” page at the end of the book, PJ gives credit to the artist by including a picture, a web address and a short biography. Writing for children is PJ’s passion.