Graham Gardner

Graham Gardner was born in West Berlin on an American army base, grew up in a beautiful little town called Martinsville, Virginia, and now lives in Richmond, Virginia with his family in a very strange house on the river. He received his degree in dentistry at Virginia Commonwealth University, and became an orthodontist at New York University, so he gets to help people with their smiles every day. Graham loves spending time with his family, kite boarding, and whitewater kayaking but most of all, he loves life! Graham is also published in orthodontic scientific publications, where he writes about the importance of having a great smile. He hopes this book will make you smile, too!

To learn more about Graham, follow him on Facebook and Twitter, and visit his website.

Books

What Happened to the Tooth Fairy?

$17.95 $4.49

written by Graham Gardner

illustrated by Nancy LeBlanc

Oliver is excited to lose his big front tooth. It means a visit from the tooth fairy! But when Oliver wakes up, he discovers something awful: the tooth fairy never came! What could have happened to her? How could she forget to visit? To solve the mystery, Oliver comes up with a plan: he'll build a fairy trap and ask the tooth fairy herself!

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The Santa Beacon

$19.95 $4.99

written by Graham Gardner

illustrated by Nancy LeBlanc

Can Santa find you this Christmas?

It's Ava's first Christmas away from home and she's excited to spend it with her Grandmart and Pop Pop and all her fun cousins. But how will Santa know where to find her? Ava knows her younger brothers will be sad if they wake up and there are no presents under the tree, so she sets out to save Christmas. Ava soon learns, though, that Santa has a way of finding every good little boy and girl, simply by following their hearts.

Kindle ebook available here ($5.99)

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More About Graham Gardner

A simple question can sometimes be the start of something big. When author Graham Gardner was traveling with his family to visit their “GranMarty” for Christmas, his daughter asked “Daddy, how is Santa going to find us?” From this conversation, The Santa Beacon, Graham’s first children’s book, was born. “When are you going to write a book for me?” Graham’s son asked a year later. This prompted Graham to think about all the unanswered questions children have as they grow up. Graham wrote What Happened to the Tooth Fairy?, starring his son, to explain why the Tooth Fairy doesn’t always come around when children expect her to.

“How can we spread positivity?” Graham remembers this question from the summer camp he attended in his youth. Years later he wrote Finn Finds Fun, starring his other son, who is naturally cheerful and optimistic, to answer that question. Graham views this book as his chance to help children look for the good in the world, “because there is a lot of it!” And thus, Graham’s three children’s books were created!

Every writer remembers the books that made them fall in love with reading. These days, Graham mostly reads literature for his orthodontics practice, but he does what he can to make time to read for pleasure. He’s a big fan of Kurt Vonnegut and Tom Robbins, particularly Jitterbug Perfume. Most recently, he has greatly enjoyed Fool by Christopher Moore. As a kid, Graham appreciated the classics, his favorite being The Little Engine that Could.

Graham's three children were not only the inspirations for his books, but also models for the illustrations. Graham is thankful for his mother, who bolstered him in all his endeavors throughout the years, especially the publication of his three books. Not only that, she had his book covers professionally framed! Graham also considers his orthodontic patients, who read his books in the waiting room, to be a great support. When a patient loses a tooth, he’ll give them a copy of What Happened to the Tooth Fairy? If a kid is having a rough time, Graham will show them Finn Finds Fun to brighten their day. Thanks, Graham, for this shout-out to your support squad!

In all aspects of Graham’s life, his overarching goal is to bring smiles to people’s faces. This goal even inspired Graham to become an orthodontist -- he wanted to help people gain self-confidence by being proud of their smiles. Graham has even published in scientific journals about the importance of a healthy smile. And ultimately, Graham hoped in writing his three fun and positive children's books that he would bring about as many smiles as possible! .