Children's Book Author
Ten years in the making.
Series · 6 books
Up Here
Ages 4–8 · Character deadpanOne creature making sense of up here.
Series · 5 books
The Case Files
Ages 4–8 · Child deadpanI have more papers.
Series · 8 books
Not the Same
K–2 NGSS · NonfictionLook closely. They only seem alike.
Series · 4 books
Little Hearts, Big Skies
Ages 2–5 · Lyrical verseHelping little hearts weather big feelings.
Up Here · Series in Progress
Book No. 001One creature trying to make sense of up here.
Underground was quiet.
Up here, the mouth is under attack.
Pontoof has lived underground his whole life. Last week he came up. The toothpaste attacks every morning. The yellow thing was confident-looking. The red one was lying. The cold white thing brings two things at once. And then there is the toast with the brown dust, which feels like home.
A deadpan picture book about a small creature classifying a strange new world, and choosing to invite his friend up anyway.
Six Categories of Spicy
A category that turns out to feel like home.
The Full Series · Six Books · Six Senses
01
Taste
Up Here Is Spicy
02
Sound
Still underground
03
Light
Still underground
04
Speed
Still underground
05
Touch
Still underground
06
Scale
Still underground
The Case Files · Series in Progress
Case File No. 001Every child has thought it.
Only one made a chart.
A deadpan comedic picture book series where a child arrives at the breakfast table on Monday morning with papers, a chart, and an airtight case for a six-day weekend. Point One: two days is not enough. Point Two: Monday is not needed. Point Three has no chart.
The same child. The same kitchen. A different argument every time. And Point Three never has a chart.
Exhibit A — Weekend Distribution
Note: the math does not add up to six days. The child has not noticed.
Pending Cases
I have more papers.
Series in Progress · K–2 NGSS
One question: which one is it?
Most adults cannot tell a Harvestman from a Cellar Spider, even though one is not a spider at all. They share a name. They share the corner of your basement. They share almost nothing else.
The Harvestman
One body.
Two eyes.
No web at all.
The Cellar Spider
Two parts.
Eight eyes.
Always home.
The Full Series — Eight Books · Four Categories
Bugs & Crawlers
Harvestman & Cellar Spider
Dragonfly & Damselfly
Sea Animals
Sea Lion & Seal
Squid & Octopus
Birds
Raven & Crow
Hawk & Falcon
Mammals
Llama & Alpaca
Rabbit & Hare
Back Matter
NGSS aligned · Maps across a full year of K–2 science curriculum. The concept is endlessly repeatable — each title adds a new curriculum unit.
Series in Progress
Four books. Four childhood emotions.
Each paired with a weather metaphor,
sensory-rich language, and the same
lyrical heart.
Can you find Sunny in every book?
FOMO
I Miss You When the Moon Is Out
Unseen Fears
I Miss You When the Wind Whispers
Anger & Frustration
I Miss You When the Storm Rolls In
Sadness & Disappointment
I Miss You When the Clouds Turn Grey
Sample · For Caregivers
A Guide for Parents · Designed to be included with each book of the series.
Each book in the Little Hearts, Big Skies series is designed to close with a dedicated caregiver resource: a practical guide that mirrors the bravery shown in the story and gives parents concrete tools for the real moments families face in life.
Sunny is designed to hide in every book, because love is always nearby, even when you can't see it.
Sample · For Educators
School visits, library storytimes, and hands-on workshops designed around the emotional world of early childhood. Each is built to be warm, unhurried, and grounded in connection rather than performance.
Each offering is designed around the book that fits your community best. I Miss You When the Moon Is Out brings warmth and reassurance to bedtime and separation anxiety. I Miss You When the Wind Whispers helps children name and release fears they can't quite explain. I Miss You When the Storm Rolls In gives big feelings a place to land, and a way through. I Miss You When the Clouds Turn Grey wraps disappointment in tenderness and reminds little hearts that cloudy days always clear.
Signature Program
Bedtime Bravery Workshop
An interactive read-aloud guiding children through the feelings that arrive when the lights go off — and showing them they are not alone in the dark. Ideal for classroom visits.
Library Program
Storytime & Craft
A lighter-touch visit designed for library hours — sign-up or drop-in, no prep required. Families gather around the story and leave with something made by hand and a book in mind.
Community Connections
Caregiver & Child Events
From book fairs to library events and school wellness nights — a joyful, hands-on presence that brings the series to life right where families are already gathering.
Professional Development
Counselor Session
For counselors working with children navigating separation, transitions, and big emotions. Rooted in the book series and a professional background in human behavior.
Sample · Resources
A printable keepsake for every child who showed courage at bedtime.
Download & PrintCut-out template for the felt heart ritual from the caregiver guide.
In DevelopmentA classroom-ready reminder of the breathing technique from the book.
In DevelopmentGentle prompts for classroom conversations after the read-aloud.
In DevelopmentLittle Hearts, Big Skies · A Picture Book Series
Certificate of Courage
This certificate is proudly presented to
Name
who showed extraordinary bravery at bedtime —
staying in their cozy spot, taking their Star Breaths,
and trusting that the morning pounce is always on its way. 🌙
In Development
Eight books that aren't part of a series.
Each one is its own world.
A rain narrator who tries to draw a child back. A turtle who likes the view from down there. A girl whose quiet house becomes a loud one. A boy who is eleven years too short. A girl keeping a list of who has been rude. And five wild animals who chose a falling-down barn on purpose.
"I am rain. We have met before."
Rain has soaked pointy mountains and filled salty oceans, and nobody has ever looked up. So it picks one ordinary car and tries everything — plink, plonk, BOOM on the roof — to be noticed. Only when it finally gives up does a small child look up, breathe on the glass, and draw it. Rain answers in the only way it can.
"A turtle lands on her back. Everyone panics. She does not."
Bodhi falls off a curb and discovers the sky is at the bottom. A crowd of well-meaning turtles assembles to fix her. She'd rather take her time. The reader physically turns the book for three spreads to see what she sees — a mailbox becomes a birdhouse, a hydrant becomes a small child, a streetlamp becomes a flower.
"Four women with Down syndrome move in. They take her chores, her chair, and her mother."
A house of two becomes a house of six. The girl calls them intruders. Outside the fence the neighbors stare, and a boy at school has a name for her house. Her mother's answer is a parade. Realistic fiction, drawn from the year the author was seven.
"There is a spider on the ceiling. I know this because I looked up when I was supposed to be brushing my teeth."
A deadpan child-voice picture book. A child finds Daddy Long Legs on the bathroom ceiling, has a question, and goes looking for Mommy Long Legs in every reasonable place she might be. She is somewhere so ordinary the child has walked past her a hundred times. A small book about the presence of the ones who are always there.
"The barn has not changed. The reader has."
A narrative nonfiction picture book organized into five short chapters, each dedicated to one wild animal that has claimed a specific part of a falling-down barn. Most people drive past and see ruin. The barn owl, the bats, the swallows, the rat snake, and the farm cat see a perfect address, and every flaw in the structure is a feature they chose on purpose. The book opens and closes on the same exterior image.
"There is a door in the ceiling. He is eleven years too short."
A boy has found a door nobody else seems to think about. It is in the ceiling. It has no handle he can reach. He has a plan, and then another plan, and the ceiling stays exactly where it is.
"Astrid is keeping a list of who has been rude. So far: a thread, a zipper, a juice box."
Astrid is not upset. Astrid is documenting. The list grows across the day with the calm precision of someone building a case, and every entry is something that has quietly refused to cooperate.
"Milo asked for his birthday party at the shoe store. The whole party."
Not the park. Not the pizza place. The shoe store, with the sliding metal measure and the benches and the smell of new rubber. Everyone assumes he will change his mind. He does not.
About Tina
Tina Bossio is a picture book author based in the Hudson Valley, New York. She writes for children who are noticing more than they are letting on, and for the overlooked thing that has been there the whole time — a turtle nobody asked, a barn everyone drives past, a rain that has been to salty oceans and never once been seen.
Over a twenty-year career in marketing and strategic leadership, she developed STEAM enrichment curriculum for children ages 2–12, served as a K–4 classroom aide in public elementary schools, and published research on ethical practice in child-focused studies in the Journal of Marketing Research. Reading aloud in those classrooms is where she learned what a story sounds like landing: the pause before the laugh, the page nobody lets you turn.
She has been writing picture books for more than ten years. She lives in the Hudson Valley with a toddler and a teenager, both of whom keep turning up in the manuscripts.
Active member of SCBWI
Get in Touch
For literary representation, rights inquiries or to learn more contact Tina.
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Location
Hudson Valley, New York