Amanda Minuk
Amanda Minuk is a writer and indie publisher living in Toronto, Ontario with her two little kids and husband.
Amanda writes children’s books that bring joy and laughter to children and their grownups. Whether exposing kids to new foods or sharing stories about confidence, bravery, botany, space and more, Amanda loves helping kids learn new facts about the world.
Amanda has always been an entrepreneur at heart. Prior to becoming an author and indie publisher, she started and sold her online business. During the COVID lockdown, Amanda began her career writing and publishing, creating Doodle Paw Press to help bring to life her vision. Amanda writes, designs and publishes her books (the images used are usually licensed, and Amanda selects and designs everything).
Amanda has her MBA from the Rotman School of Business and an undergraduate degree from McGill University. Amanda is a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators.
Find her on instagram @amandaminuk and @doodlepawpress
Doodle Paw Press
Delightful children’s books for foodie kids and for discovering the world.
Adorable books designed for kids aged 0-8, introducing little ones to different foods and topics such as bravery, space, rainbows, plants, humour and more.
Books are independently published by Amanda Minuk.
How it all began
It all began with a pizza restaurant and a night out.
Once upon a pre-COVID night, our family went for pizza. While we were eating, our 4 year old daughter got restless, so I took her to watch the chefs make pizza.
As we were watching, I was describing what the chefs were doing- first they stretched stretched stretched the dough, then they spread spread the sauce, and then shred shred shred the cheese and so on. She loved the way I was telling the story so I kept repeating all the steps as they made new pizzas.
Before bed that night, I was thinking it would be a really cute story and wrote it in my Notes App just to remember it, but didn’t think too much about it.
A few months later, I was working on a family photo album and I remembered my pizza story. I created another photo album, but this time with my story and it was a cute keepsake and it was called Hello Pizza.
When it was our turn to be the “celebrity reader” in our daughter’s kindergarten class, I read one of her favourite books and on a whim, added in Hello Pizza. After I read the book, the teacher asked if the author had a whole food series? I said “she could”. She didn’t realize I was the author. Seeing how much the kids liked the book, I knew I was on to something. So I set about to create more stories introducing the steps to making our kids favourite foods and helping expose little ones to new ingredients.
When COVID hit, I was just finishing up a maternity leave and my daughter was 4. I had previously owned a business that I had sold and had parted ways with when my son was born. With the uncertainty of COVID and school, it wasn’t the right time to start a new job but doing the children’s books was a perfect entrepreneurial outlet. I created my own self-publishing company Doodle Paw Press and got busy!
Saying Hello to the food gave me another idea to say Hello to concepts like the solar system, plants, chess, and the list goes on. But, my twist is you learn how to say Hello in new languages!
I continued to write and have a number of projects on the go!
My favourite book is You’re Going to Go Far because it is a compilation of all my late father’s life lessons told in verse. And my latest The Brave Girl, which is inspired by a friend’s daughter going through a difficult time.
Thank you for taking the time to read my story!