About the Author
Shawn Thurston is your every day average, blue collar working man. Out of two girls and two boys, Shawn is the youngest son of a US Navy veteran and a nurse. With this dynamic, Shawn grew up understanding the importance of hard work, patriotism and how they go hand in hand. Shawn grew up in Hamilton Square, NJ - a colonial town rich with American history, not very far from where George Washington crossed the Delaware River. "Hamilton was fantastic growing up. Baseball was a household activity and the end of my street had homes still standing from the colonial times when America was born." Being a father of two, Shawn feels passionate about teaching his daughters the importance of American History, American Civics and patriotism. "When I was a kid going to elementary school in the mid to late 1980's, I noticed a divisive shift in our education system. I'll never forget that in 3rd grade we were being told that an ice age would be here by the year 2000, and just two years later in 5th grade we learned about the ozone layer hole and the 'greenhouse effect,' which has evolved now into 'global warming,' or, 'climate change.' According to a lot of my teachers, the Jersey Shore should be in Trenton by now. A lot of what we learned was more agenda-driven and opinion, rather than factual or subjective education to encourage thought. It may have been just where I lived due to a powerful teacher's union, but I doubt it."
The main idea of Woodworker Publishing is to provide tools for the American parent to come out of their element and teach their children factual American history, civics and patriotism - based on at-home self-education. Shawn feels that a lot of schools are not doing their patriotic duty for our children out of fear or political correctness. "I do not remember learning what the words of the Pledge of Allegiance meant, only that I had to know it. My first book was very educational not only for my daughter, but for me as well. I never learned facts like why or when the words 'Under God' were added to the Pledge, or who first wrote the Pledge, but I know now and I find it fascinating where the Pledge of Allegiance has ended up. I would encourage anyone who reads Abigail Learns the Pledge to do as much research on the subject and elaborate on its words."
Abigail Learns the Pledge is the first installment of a series of Abigail books, Shawn has many plans for other topics for everyone to share. Shawn's future plans for Woodworker involve all types of book genres, with hopes of appealing to all types of readers. "I started writing three books in the past 5 years: a non-fiction, children's book and a current events/political book. As soon as I saw the illustrations that my artist did, I knew that the children's book was the most important to realease first!"
After living across the country in California for a few years, Shawn made his way down to sunny Florida with the rest of his immediate family where he now works as a Firefighter/Paramedic. He is married to Sara, with two daughters - Abigail and Ainsley. The family has three dogs, a German Shepherd named Chewbacca (who is featured in Abigail Learns the Pledge with the name "Scottie"), a Bernese Mountain Dog named Reese, and another German Shepherd puppy named Cody.
"If your life is not going according to your plan, then it is going beautifully."