About the Author

Holly Remkes lives near Fillmore, Utah with her husband David and their six children. In addition to writing children's books, she paints and illustrates.

Holly created The Gunny Sack Man series from a poem that she originally wrote as a teenager. With nine children, her mother had used various methods to teach cleanliness and responsibility. "The Gunny Sack Man was my favorite," she says. "It was thrilling to write about him and explain him the way that I had visualized him as a child." As a teen, Holly enjoyed motivating a younger brother with visits from The Gunny Sack Man. "It was a lot of fun," she says. "And my brother was extremely motivated. He would even write letters and put them under his pillow requesting The Gunny Sack Man bring him specific treats. My brother responded better than anticipated. I hate to admit it, but I think I was able to get him to do a lot of my personal jobs."

It wasn't until years later that Holly wrote the "Read it Again!" version of The Gunny Sack Man in an effort to motivate her own children. She made her kids the main characters in these books. She says, "It soon became apparent that my own kids weren't the only ones who needed these books. I soon had neighbor children begging to clean my house for The Gunny Sack Man."