Beth Charles

Beth Charles grew up in a quiet town in northern New Jersey in a house full of unusual pets – a duck named Harvey, Flower the skunk, and Dylan, a cockatiel who sat on her dog’s paw to give kisses, just to name a few.

Although she loved history, Beth always thought she’d be a librarian like her mom or a teacher like her dad. Instead, she married a librarian and became a museum curator.  

In 1982, she and her husband moved from the Midwest to Vermont and together with her parents and sister bought an historic apple orchard – which was a crazy thing to do since they were not farmers. Luckily things worked out and years later, one of her four children took over the orchard. Now Beth has lots more time to write books, read, and knit. But what she likes best of all is spending time with her five grandchildren.

 If you ask Beth about her favorite books, she’d say there are too many to name. But her favorite author by far is her dad, F.M. Steingress, who wrote wildly successful books on low and high pressure boilers. So actually, she did follow in her dad’s footsteps after all.

Between growing apples, raising chickens and pigs, and baking pies, there is always something happening on the family farm and Beth enjoys writing picture books about all of it. She is the author of How to Grow an Apple Pie (Albert Whitman, 2020,) Apple Pie Tired (Sleeping Bear Press, 2024), and Lily’s Surprise Pumpkins (due for publication in fall 2026 Sleeping Bear Press).

Publications

  • Apple Pie Tired, illustrated by Hannah Brinson, Sleeping Bear Press, July 2024

  • How to Grow an Apple Pie, Albert Whitman & Company, 2020

  • How to Grow an Apple Pie, Albert Whitman & Company, 2024 (paperback)