Michèle Dufresne is a former literacy specialist who has turned her commitment to teaching children to read into a major focus of her writing, speaking, and teaching. She is the best-selling author of the Bella and Rosie series and many other fiction and nonfiction books used by teachers nationally and internationally.
Together with Jan Richardson, she has coauthored the best-selling Literacy Footprints Guided Reading system, published by Pioneer Valley Books (PVB), which has become an indispensable part of helping teachers deliver high-quality guided reading to students in K–6 classrooms. In fall 2019, Michèle’s new book coauthored with Jan, The Next Step Forward in Word Study and Phonics, was published by Scholastic. She is also the author of Word Solvers: Making Sense of Letters and Sounds, published by Heinemann Publishing. Recently, she has worked on a collection of new PVB books for grades 3–6 that includes high-interest fiction as well as nonfiction and graphic novels about Greek myths. Her book Oki and the Polar Bear won the 2017 Moonbeam Silver Award.
Michèle holds a doctorate in education from the University of Massachusetts. She has been a classroom teacher, language arts specialist, Title 1 director, and Reading Recovery teacher leader, and has served as a consultant in school districts across the United States.
When not writing or working with children and teachers in schools, Michèle enjoys taking her dogs for walks and playing with her four grandchildren: Jaxson, Harper, Mae, and Simon. She lives in Amherst, Massachusetts (when it is warm!), and St. Augustine, Florida (when it is cold!).
She continues to work on improving literacy education and increasing students’ access to books that engage and support children who are learning to read.
