Meet Margie
Stories have a way of helping us see one another differently.
Margie Harding is a children's author whose stories encourage young readers to approach disabilities, differences, and life's challenges with understanding, kindness, and compassion.
Her journey into writing about disabilities was not something she planned. It grew one story at a time—and eventually became an important part of why she writes.
A wife, mother, grandmother, lifelong learner, reader, writer, and quilter.
Welcome
A place where all levels of abilities blend.
Children come in all shapes and sizes, and the abilities each child brings are just as varied. Margie believes that is a good thing. We all have strengths and challenges, and understanding begins when we learn to recognize the abilities in one another rather than focusing only on what someone may lack.
An Unexpected Journey
Writing about disability was not the plan.
“This was not my plan.”Margie had been writing for years—devotions, material for children, and even a novel about returning to college more than thirty years after high school. But the two book series that eventually became central to her work were never part of the original plan.
The journey began when Margie was asked to write a children's story using animals as characters. In that story, a forest fire forces the friends to help one another reach safety. Along the way, Buffy the Buffalo has her baby early, and Carmelita Coyote develops breathing problems after inhaling smoke.
Those story threads opened unexpected doors. A follow-up book explored premature birth. Another helped children understand asthma. One subject led naturally to another, and Paxton & Friends began to take shape as a series centered on disabilities, differences, friendship, and understanding.
Margie later followed that work with a middle-grade series in which disability remains part of the backdrop. It was not where she imagined her writing would lead, but it became a place she was grateful to find herself.
Why I Write
To make a difference—not in our differences.
Margie's writing is rooted in tolerance, understanding, kindness, acceptance, and empathy. We are all different, and we all bring strengths, challenges, and gifts that make us uniquely ourselves.
Through her books, Margie hopes children will learn that difference is not something to fear. It can become a place where friendship begins, questions are welcomed, and common ground is discovered.
The Books
Stories for different stages of growing up.
Margie's two primary series approach disability, friendship, belonging, and understanding for readers at different ages.
Paxton & Friends
Stories for elementary-age readers that introduce disabilities, medical conditions, and life challenges through approachable animal characters, friendship, and everyday experiences.
Explore Paxton & Friends →The Invitation Series
Middle-school stories that explore belonging, friendships, disability, self-esteem, and the more complicated challenges young people encounter as they grow.
Explore The Invitation Series →Beyond The Books
A lifelong student, with or without a classroom.
Margie describes herself as a perpetual student. She enjoys reading, learning new things, exploring different subjects, and continuing to grow whether or not she is formally enrolled in a class.
Family has always been an important part of her life, as have the relationships, experiences, and questions that continue to shape the stories she tells.
What Guides My Work
My Statement of Faith
Margie's faith is central to who she is and to the purpose she sees in the work she has been given to do.
I am a born again Christian, who believes in a Triune God: God the Father, Jesus the Son and the Holy Spirit who dwells within as a seal of our relationship with Christ and empowers believers to carry out the purpose of his will. I believe Jesus as God's son came in the flesh as a newborn, human child, was crucified and on the third day rose again. One day Jesus will return to rapture his church and the Earth will be faced with a great tribulation. I believe in the Bible as the infallible word of God. Salvation is not earned but given by grace alone through Jesus Christ. Those that know Jesus personally will live with him forever; those who don't, face eternity in a place called Hell.
Continue Exploring
Stories written to open conversations.
Discover Margie's books for younger and middle-grade readers, or spend some time with her longer-form writing on disability, family, faith, and everyday life.