Sharon Holt has written books in English and Māori for children of all ages. Publication of her Skipper stories in the Ready to Read series gave her the encouragement to write full-time and, in 2007, she was a finalist in the NZ Post Book Awards for Children and Young Adults. She researched and wrote two books in Scholastic’s My Story series, and has also had two picture books published by Walker Books.

Sharon’s writing career expanded in late 2011 when she published the first two books in her popular Te Reo Singalong series. There are now eight books in the series, with another due in February 2015. Sharon has been a finalist in the Māori Language Awards for the last three years in a row, and was the winner of the print category in 2013. Her Te Reo Singalong books and CDs are favourites with teachers and children because they are so easy to use, even for those who are not confident in their pronunciation of the language.

Sharon spends most of her time writing and visiting classrooms as The Writing Bug, which is the name of her publishing company. She loves talking to students about the writing process and also enjoys sharing her passion for te reo Māori during workshops with teachers.