Sheryl Knotek
Mother. Author. A woman from St. Paul who turned a real family moment into a book her daughter illustrated by hand.
A mother from St. Paul
Sheryl Knotek grew up and raised her family in St. Paul, Minnesota. She is a mother before she is an author, and that is exactly what makes Sensei the book that it is.
She did not sit down one day and decide to write a Christian children's book. She lived a moment with her daughter, recognized what it meant, and found a way to share it. That is the kind of writing that reaches people, because it is not invented. It is remembered.
Sheryl's faith is not something she wears on the outside. It is the thing she passes on quietly, through a conversation on a difficult afternoon, through a story told at bedtime, through the kind of presence that makes a child feel safe.
Sensei is all of that, put on a page.
One afternoon after a storm
Brooke was four. A storm had moved through St. Paul and done real damage, blowing out a window and bringing down trees. When Sheryl and Brooke went outside to look around, Brooke spotted something small on a branch. A parakeet, hurt and alone after the storm.
They rescued it together and brought it inside. And in that quiet moment, with a small bird in their hands, Sheryl did what mothers do. She used what was real to teach something eternal.
She told Brooke that God knows when a sparrow falls. He saw that bird on that branch. And if He sees even a sparrow, how much more does He see us? How much more does He care?
Brooke listened. She understood. And she held onto that truth.
Years later, Sheryl put the story into a book. And Brooke, by then old enough to draw with purpose, illustrated every single page herself. The result is Sensei: a 30-page children's book that came from one real afternoon and has carried its message into the hands of families, grandparents, Sunday school teachers, and church readers across the country.
"Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?"
Matthew 6:26
Brooke Knotek drew every picture in this book
Brooke was the little girl in the story. She was four years old when the storm came, four years old when they found the parakeet, and four years old when her mother told her that God always takes care of us.
She grew up carrying that. And when Sheryl decided to turn the story into a book, it was Brooke who sat down and drew the illustrations. Not as a professional illustrator. As someone who had lived the story and wanted to show it the way she remembered it.
That is what makes the art in Sensei unlike anything else in the Christian children's book market. The pictures were made by the child the story is about. There is no digital polish, no mass-produced style. There is just a young woman drawing something real from her own life, in her own hand.
Children notice that. Parents and grandparents notice it too.
Every illustration in Sensei was drawn by Brooke Knotek.
What Sheryl hopes every child takes away
"I wrote this book because I want every child who reads it to carry one thing with them: you are not alone. God sees you. He knows your name. And He cares about you more than He cares for every sparrow in the sky. That is the truth I gave to Brooke on that afternoon, and that is the truth I want to give to every child this book reaches."
Sheryl Knotek, St. Paul, MN
Bring Sheryl's story into your home
Order directly from Sheryl at $15.95 and save $3 compared to Amazon. Every copy ships from St. Paul, MN and supports the author personally.
Signed copies available on request. Ships within 2 to 3 business days.