-AUTHOR/ILLUSTRATOR-
Dr. Grace LaJoy
About Dr. Grace LaJoy Henderson
For more than two decades, Dr. Grace LaJoy Henderson has devoted her life to encouraging, educating, and inspiring children, families, and readers through books, educational resources, and animated stories.
Dr. Grace LaJoy Henderson is the author of more than thirty books and the creator of The Gracie Series, a growing collection of heartwarming children's books, animated stories, and educational resources designed to encourage children to think, learn, discuss, and grow. Inspired by real-life childhood experiences, The Gracie Series helps children develop positive character traits through wholesome stories and free printable learning activities for families, caregivers, and educators.
She is also the author of A Gifted Child in Foster Care: A Story of Resilience and its accompanying Classroom Set, which includes a Student Workbook and Teacher's Guide designed to teach reading comprehension and character education. Her memoir and The Gracie Series have been used in public and charter schools, and two chapters from her memoir were published by Pearson Higher Education in a college textbook.
Years after publishing her foster care memoir, Dr. Grace LaJoy experienced the joyful reunion she had long hoped for when she found her mother after forty-nine years. That remarkable journey inspired the Finding Mother Series, a story of hope, faith, perseverance, healing, and restoration."
Dr. Grace LaJoy earned a Doctorate in Christian Counseling with an emphasis in Writing and Research from Faith Bible College. She also holds master's degrees in Education and Curriculum and Instruction, a bachelor's degree in Social Psychology, and an associate degree in Office Management. Throughout her career, she has served children, families, and students in education, child welfare, higher education, and community organizations.
Whether through children's books, memoirs, educational resources, or animated stories, Dr. Grace LaJoy's mission has remained the same: to encourage hope, strengthen families, inspire meaningful conversations, and remind readers that even life's ordinary moments can become extraordinary lessons
Every book, poem, and educational resource has been shaped by Dr. Grace LaJoy's personal journey.
Continue reading The Story Behind the Stories to discover how a lifelong dream became Inspirations by Grace LaJoy, LLC.
The Story Behind the Stories
Every journey begins with a dream.
Long before publishing her first book, Grace LaJoy Henderson dreamed of one day starting a business that would inspire, encourage, and uplift others through writing. That dream eventually became Inspirations by Grace LaJoy, LLC, a name that continues to reflect the heart behind everything she creates.
For Grace LaJoy, writing has always begun with inspiration. Many of her poems, books, and stories first came to her as unexpected moments of inspiration—ideas she felt compelled to write down before they slipped away. She believes those moments were gifts meant to encourage, educate, and inspire others, making Inspirations by Grace LaJoy the perfect name for her life's work.
Grace LaJoy's love for writing began when she was just twelve years old after writing and saving her very first poem. Over the years, she filled a folder with hundreds of poems and songs, often sharing them with family, friends, classmates, and members of her church. She eventually became the person others turned to when they needed poems for special occasions, celebrations, and expressions of appreciation.
In 1999, Grace LaJoy officially launched her writing career by creating a collection of twenty laminated poems featuring illustrated backgrounds. She displayed and sold them at major conventions, festivals, conferences, churches, and community events wherever she was invited to exhibit. Those early experiences allowed her to meet readers face-to-face, share messages of hope and encouragement, and build the foundation for the writing ministry she had long envisioned.
In 2001, teaching herself along the way, Grace LaJoy designed and launched her very first website, creating an online home for her growing collection of inspirational writing. Although simple, it marked the beginning of what would become a much larger vision.
Determined to share her writing with the world, Grace LaJoy also taught herself how to publish her own books. In 2003, she published her first poetry book and continued independently publishing her own work in the years that followed. Her self-publishing journey eventually inspired Writer's Breakthrough: Steps to Copyright and Publish Your Own Book, a practical guide created to help aspiring authors understand the publishing process.
For the next nine years, Grace LaJoy conducted free workshops for aspiring authors, teaching directly from Writer's Breakthrough. She enjoyed encouraging writers who dreamed of publishing their own books by sharing the knowledge she had gained through firsthand experience. Following many of the workshops, attendees formed lines to purchase her books, encouraged by the belief that they, too, could become published authors.
Shortly after publishing her first poetry book, nationally recognized motivational speaker Les Brown heard Grace LaJoy present one of her original poems, I Forgive You, at her church. Moved by both the poem and its message, he provided an endorsement for Grace LaJoy and her book—an encouraging milestone early in her writing career.
Drawing from her own childhood experiences, Grace LaJoy later wrote A Gifted Child in Foster Care: A Story of Resilience. At the time she wrote the book, she believed she might never find her mother. Yet she chose to share her journey of perseverance, faith, and resilience in the hope that it would encourage children and adults facing difficult circumstances.
Because of her background in education and child welfare, Grace LaJoy designed the memoir to be more than a personal story. Included in the original book are discussion questions for students, along with a separate set of discussion questions for children's social workers, encouraging readers to reflect on the important life lessons found throughout the memoir.
As educators began using A Gifted Child in Foster Care: A Story of Resilience, Grace LaJoy expanded the educational resources by creating a Classroom Set that included a Student Workbook and Teacher's Guide. Designed to teach both reading comprehension and character education, the curriculum features a worksheet for every chapter, helping students explore positive character traits, valuable life lessons, and the themes of resilience, perseverance, hope, and faith found throughout the memoir.
Throughout her professional career, Grace LaJoy served children, families, and students in many different capacities. Her work included serving as a Lead Family Worker, Parent-School Liaison, Student Discipline Specialist, college instructor, academic coach, and manager of a Missouri Children's Division contract providing court-ordered services for children in foster care and their birth parents. She also devoted many years to volunteering in children's and youth ministries and enjoyed speaking at schools, churches, libraries, colleges, and community organizations.
One of the most extraordinary chapters of her life came years later when she found her mother after forty-nine years. What had once seemed impossible became a joyful reality. That life-changing reunion inspired the Finding Mother Series, allowing her to share a story of hope, healing, faith, and restoration with readers around the world.
Building upon the success of her children's books, Grace LaJoy later expanded The Gracie Series into original animated stories and free educational resources designed to help children think, learn, discuss, and grow. Each story is inspired by real-life childhood experiences and encourages meaningful conversations between children and the parents, grandparents, caregivers, and teachers who care for them.
The inspiration for The Gracie Series began with an unexpectedly ordinary moment. After a tin of popcorn was delivered behind a bush instead of to the front door, a co-worker suggested that Grace LaJoy write a children's story about the experience. That simple suggestion inspired Popcorn Behind the Bush, the very first story in The Gracie Series. Soon afterward, many more childhood memories came flooding back, inspiring dozens of additional stories. The name "Gracie" was chosen because it was the affectionate nickname her siblings called her when she was a little girl.
Throughout her journey, Grace LaJoy has never been afraid to learn something new. Whether teaching herself website design, book publishing, curriculum development, or children's animation, she has continually embraced new skills in order to share stories that educate, encourage, and inspire others.
Looking back over the years, Grace LaJoy sees a common thread woven through every poem, every book, every classroom resource, and every animated story—a desire to encourage others through authentic experiences and meaningful lessons.
What began as the dream of a young writer eventually became Inspirations by Grace LaJoy, LLC—a lifelong mission of encouraging hope, strengthening families, inspiring learning, and sharing stories that remind us all that even life's greatest challenges can become someone else's source of hope.