About Carolyn
The Author
Carolyn was born and raised in the Bay area, having attended US Davis and graduating in 1994 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology, Human Development, Developmental Disabilities, and Deaf and Hard of Hearing Studies. She was a dedicated student and passionate about working with individuals with special needs, even then.
The Nurturer
Family Time
Carolyn worked as a Teacher at the preschool level until 2000, when she stepped away from education in order to raise Josh, the first of her two sons. In 2001 her second son, Ben, arrived and Carolyn’s path took an unexpected turn. Needing round the clock medical attention, Ben was later diagnosed with a rare chromosome duplication anomaly, cerebral palsy, developmental disabilities, and eventually growths on his brain were detected before he was later found to be autistic. Carolyn’s love for special education was reborn. Carolyn contributed educational and lighthearted pieces to her local paper, sharing her knowledge with the community and advocating for all students with special needs.
Story Time
SCHOOL LIBRARIAN READING TESSA'S TALL TALES
The Educator
In 2002 Carolyn was picked up as a newspaper Columnist, after being a stringer for a local paper. Within a year her weekly column was running in 8 newspapers. She was the talent behind Crazy Little Thing Called Life, eventually winning an award from the National Newspaper Association in 2005. Her column, Thinking Pink, won her the Best Humous Column Award in a non-daily Newspaper with a circulation of 12,000 from the Better Newspaper Contest.
Carolyn retired from the weekly column in 2008 in order to revisit her passion for special education, working as a Behavior Modification Therapist, advocating for families with children with special needs and earning an additional teaching credential in special education. Since then, she’s been a Special Education Teacher, Reading Specialist and private tutor for children who struggle with English Language Arts and Math. Carolyn has been nominated as the Teacher of the Year three times since 2014, and continues to combine her passions of teaching, reading, and writing through various sources of publication.
What People Are Saying About Tessa's Tall Tales
"Jamie S. writes:This was such a cute story about the importance of telling the truth instead of making stories up to sound like the truth! I have two girls of my own and have taught preschool for 27 years! I had many children come to mind that I was reminded of while reading this cute book!"
Jamie S.
“Heidi H. says this is such a sweet book about a lesson hard to explain to kids at times. Well done Miss Dodds! Her son and former student of Ms. Dodds, Jake, says — “This book is about respect, telling lies and always telling the truth.””
Heidi H.
“I love this book and I love Carolyn Joyce Dodds for writing it!!”
Juliet H.
“Pam G. writes: I just thought it was very well written and I love the illustrations. It was tactfully and subtly sending a message about what is creating a story to share and what is going overboard where it turns into a lie. It was a social story and we need more of it with our young people. That's where it starts, that's where manners, compassion, sympathy empathy all starts— in the very young. Round of applause! ”
Pam G.
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