Wendy Ann Mattox writes the kind of chapter books she wished existed when her own daughters were young—fast-paced adventures that are fun enough to keep kids turning pages, and honest enough to point them toward Jesus without feeling preachy. After more than a decade teaching and directing in Christian schools and preschools in Idaho, she stepped away from the classroom to write full time, carrying that same heart for kids and families into every story she puts on the page.

In this conversation, Wendy and Brenton trace how her journey wound from Hewlett Packard production coordinator, to stay-at-home mom and freelance parenting writer, to Christian children’s author with three different series. She shares how one simple short story about a boy who shrinks to an inch tall and solves mysteries with his animal friends became the Magic Magnifying Glass series—and how school author visits and kids’ constant requests for “time travel!” birthed the Cherry-Berry Time Chasers books about twins living above a Boise bakery on a grandfather-designed scavenger hunt through time.

Wendy also talks about her newest Spy Force series: an all-animal cast of unlikely misfits trained at an undercover spy school in Middleton, deployed wherever the Fox Bureau of Investigators sends them—from Colorado to Montana to an Alaskan cruise. Underneath the fun, she’s intentional: every book is rooted in a biblical worldview, grounded in local Idaho places kids recognize, and built around the quiet question of what it looks like to trust God in the middle of the mission.

Along the way, Brenton and Wendy dig into bigger themes: how story shapes a child’s imagination, why “clean” isn’t enough without spiritual depth, how families can discern what’s worth handing to their kids, and what it means to steward your gifts later in life when God redirects your trajectory. This episode is part craft talk, part spiritual formation, and part invitation to give the kids in your life stories that both delight them and help them grow.

Wendy Ann Mattox is a Christian children’s author from Idaho who has written fifteen chapter books for kids ages 8–12. After years of freelance writing parenting columns and articles, she moved into fiction with Magic Magnifying Glass, a mystery series about a boy who shrinks to an inch tall and solves cases with his animal friends—a story that became the seed for her entire career as an author.

Before writing full time, Wendy spent over a decade working with children in the classroom. She served as an aide and teacher at Nampa Christian School while two of her daughters attended there, and later became director of Calvary Chapel Preschool in Boise, combining administrative leadership with hands-on teaching.

Today she writes three main series—Magic Magnifying Glass, Cherry-Berry Time Chasers, and Spy Force—all from a biblical worldview and often set in familiar Idaho locations like Donnelly, Boise, and Middleton. Whether she’s visiting schools, meeting with writing groups, or crafting the next adventure at her desk, Wendy is committed to giving kids page-turning stories that quietly model faith, courage, friendship, and God’s presence in everyday life.

• How Wendy moved from Hewlett Packard production coordinator to stay-at-home mom, teacher, and eventually Christian children’s author

• Discovering a love for the classroom and helping kids fall in love with learning at Nampa Christian and Calvary Chapel Preschool

• How a simple short story about a boy who shrinks and solves mysteries launched the Magic Magnifying Glass series

• The role of school author visits and student feedback in inspiring the Cherry-Berry Time Chasers time travel series

• Building adventurous plots around real Idaho settings—Donnelly, Boise, Middleton—so kids see their own world on the page

• Why every series Wendy writes holds three anchors in common: biblical worldview, local flavor, and organic (not preachy) faith themes

• Creating Spy Force as an all-animal spy world where misfit characters learn to work together and trust God on their missions

• How years of parenting columns and magazine writing prepared Wendy to communicate clearly with both kids and parents

• Joining and rejoining a Christian writers group in Idaho, and how community helped reignite her writing calling later in life

• The tension between protecting kids from harmful stories and still giving them honest, exciting adventures to wrestle with

• Brenton and Wendy’s reflections on how fiction shaped their own childhoods and continues to form imagination, courage, and faith in the next generation

• Faith & Formation

• Family, Fatherhood & Legacy

• Story & Identity

• WendyAnnMattox.com – Official Author Website

• Wendy Ann Mattox – Author Facebook Page

• @wendyannmattoxauthor – Instagram