Welcome to my website!

I’m Trinka Hakes Noble, author and illustrator of children’s books, but you can call me Trinka. 

I love writing and drawing in my New Jersey studio, and have published 33 books over my long career, including several reading books.  I’ve also traveled all over the United States, visiting schools, libraries and universities.

If you click on Books, you will see the covers of all these books plus many more.  Don’t forget to visit my Bio page to learn how I grew up on a small farm in Michigan and why I became a children’s book writer, storyteller and illustrator.

Have fun visiting my website!

About Me My Books

My Books

Just One Girl

Fourth-grader Jillian LOVES math! It’s her favorite subject and she is good at it too. But it’s the early 1970’s in America. When Jillian goes to sign her name on the Math Club sign-up sheet, she is met with snickering and jeers. A girl in the boys’ club? Maybe she doesn’t belong.

Read More

A Fist For Joe Louis and Me

Gordy and his family live in Detroit, Michigan, the heart of the United States automobile industry.  Every Friday night after coming home from work at one of the plants, Gordy’s father teaches him how to box.  Their hero is the famous American boxer Joe Louis, who grew up in Detroit.

Read More

Rettie and the Ragamuffin Parade

In 1918, a deadly influenza pandemic was sweeping across America.  But in the tenement apartments of New York City’s Lower East Side,  one young girl is determined to keep her family safe.

Read More

The New Jersey Reader

Poems, state symbols, hidden pictures and riddles engage the beginning readers, while prose, biographies, non-fiction, short stories and a reader theater challenge advanced readers.

Read More

The Pennsylvania Reader

The Pennsylvania Reader is patterned after early primers.  Colorful illustrations accompany lively prose, poetry, games, and short stories; working together to entertain and educate.

Read More

Little New Jersey

Now for the young learner, board books for New Jersey and Pennsylvania!  State birds, flowers, trees, and animals brought to board book form for the youngest book lover.  Toddlers will… Read More

Read More

Little Pennsylvania

Now for the young learner, board books for New Jersey and Pennsylvania!  State birds, flowers, trees, and animals brought to board book form for the youngest book lover.  Toddlers will… Read More

Read More

One For All

Young readers are invited to take an armchair counting tour through the great state of Pennsylvania. Using state symbols, landmark events and famous people, numbers come to life in poetry and prose.

Read More

Jimmy’s Boa and the Big Splash Birthday Bash

When Jimmy’s birthday rolls around, his mom decides to give him a goldfish and a party at SeaLand. Once they arrive, chaos reigns; Jimmy and his guests set off a tidal wave of crazy situations, carefully choreographed in text and art.

Read More

Apple Tree Christmas

Katrina loved the old apple tree. One special branch was Katrina’s own spot to sit and sketch to her heart’s content. She pretended it was her studio.

Read More

A Christmas Spider’s Miracle

Long ago in a faraway place there lived two mothers. And, although they may appear as different as night and day, these two mothers had more in common than would first seem.

Read More

The Orange Shoes

From Trinka Hakes Noble comes the story of a young girl who learns the most precious things in life are not measured in dollars and cents but by the warmth of one’s heart.  And that truth, beauty, and love are in the eye of the beholder.

Read More

The Legend of the Jersey Devil

The Pine Barrens in New Jersey has long been a place of mystery, with its dark pine groves, black swamps, and dank bogs.  Reputed to be haunted, it’s an unsettling place. But of all the mysterious happenings and sights in the Pine Barrens, none are as intriguing as the Jersey Devil!

Read More

The Legend of Sea Glass

Long, long ago there was a time when mankind did not venture into the deep ocean waters.  It was believed that the world was flat and to sail beyond the horizon meant falling off the edge of the earth.  Yet, they were drawn to the ocean.

Read More

The Legend of Michigan

Long long ago, the ancient peoples of the forest gathered around their warm bright fires and told the tale of a time long past, when the land of Michigane was covered with thick heavy ice. They called it the Long Night of the North Wind.

Read More

The King’s Tea

The King’s tea had to be perfect. But sometimes things weren’t just right. So each morning the tea steward held his breath as the King took his first sip…

Read More

Hansy’s Mermaid

One spring day, after a storm, the Klumperty sisters find a mermaid stranded in a small inland pool and take her home. They hide the mermaid’s tail under a homespun dress and set about turning her into a good Dutch peasant. Only Hansy, the youngest child, sees the sadness in the mermaid’s eyes…

Read More

Karin’s Christmas Walk

For Karin, Uncle Jerry’s visit was what made Christmas really special. But it was already the day before Christmas, and he still hadn’t arrived.

Read More

The Dream Stealer

Gregory Maguire, the famed author of Wicked, spins an original tale drawing from the Russian folk stories about Vasilissa the Beautiful, Baba Yaga, and the Firebird.

Read More

Reading Suggestions

The four Jimmy’s Boa books, illustrated by Steven Kellogg, are lots of fun.  They have been featured on PBS’s Reading Rainbow and published in seven different languages, so lots of kids all over the world are reading Jimmy’s Boa!

If you like history, check out The Scarlet Stockings Spy, The Last Brother, American Adventures – The Battles , Rettie and the Ragamuffin Parade,  A Fist for Joe Louis and Me, The People of Twelve Thousand Winters, and the newest title, Just One Girl.

There are legends to read too, The Legend of Michigan, The Legend of the Cape May Diamond,  The Legend of the Jersey Devil and the newest one The Legend of Sea Glass.

In The New Jersey Reader and The Pennsylvania Reader, you will learn all about these states.  And for the very young, there are two board books, Little New Jersey and Little Pennsylvania.

Don’t forget the Holidays: Apple Tree Christmas, A Christmas Spider’s Miracle and Miss Mary’s Christmas Mittens.  And October and Halloween is a great time to read The Orange Shoes!  

About Me

I always wanted to be an artist…and it all started with the smell of crayons…

Our crayons were kept in an old cigar box. With seven kids, they were broken, chewed, and well used. You couldn’t even recognize the different colors, so you had to test each color by drawing on the lid. Oh, the smell when you opened that box … ahhh … and a nice sheet of white paper … and my life’s requirements were met!

Then, in second grade, you’ll never guess what happened …

When I was in fifth grade, something even more wonderful happened …

Can you imagine what unsual pets my family had on our farm? …

To find out, visit My Bio …

Welcome To
Trinka's Travels

Here you will find details about new events, information on the latest books and other notes from Trinka's Travels!

Contact Us

Want Trinka to visit?

Contact us to schedule a reading, book signing or author visit!

Book A Visit
Back to top