Cate Shainker, author and illustrator
Here I am with my three favorite chess players.
Cate Shainker, author and illustrator, has worked in a variety of industries in a variety of cities. She holds a B.S. in Finance from Indiana University and an MBA from Harvard. She currently lives in Paris, France with her husband and three boys.
“Whatever my path or place, I am struck by the importance of education as a means of providing children with the skills to enable positive change in themselves and the world around them. Outside of a classroom, reading and playing chess can open doors to new worlds and opportunities. “Once A Pawn, A Knight...” is the result of my efforts to combine these pursuits.
I have spent eons incorporating feedback from leading educators, teachers, librarians and (obviously) kids to create this book. I am convinced “Once A Pawn, A Knight...” includes an appropriate amount of “instruction” to couch in a storybook for the K-3rd grade set. The intended effect is a desire to learn chess, play more chess, and even read more in the series to learn about the other pieces.
For over ten years I have been a proud Board Member of Success Academy Charter Schools in NYC, where all of our nearly 20,000 scholars begin learning chess in kindergarten. Proceeds from the sale of this book are donated to Success Academy as a small token of my profound appreciation for this community of devoted educators and scholars.”