Tom Bacus
I’m a children’s picture book writer. I author stories that explore family, childhood milestones, courage, and my favorite – the small steps through which children discover their own budding process of thinking through the problem in front of them, making a decision, and acting on it – developing growing independence.
I was born in 1958 in Eastern Oregon and grew up in Oregon and Washington. My early childhood memories are of playing cowboys and Indians with cousins, or playing army with cousins, or running races around Grandma and Grandpa’s house with cousins. My grade-school years were filled with family fishing and water-skiing weekends with cousins, Cub Scouts, and week-long camping and hunting trips that were breaks from the classroom. During my Jr. High years my Dad was an Oregon State Park Ranger on a mountain top. I spent lots of time in the saddle riding the mountains with my brother, and sometimes the cousins. Through the years, we had cats, dogs, chickens, seven horses, two pigs, and a calf. After graduation I spent a couple years in college changing “my plans” several times. I joined the Navy in 1979.
Before turning seriously to writing, I spent twenty years in the U.S. Navy, with eleven years riding submarines and surface ships, retiring as a naval officer and twenty-six years in the corporate world, the last fifteen founding and running Bacus & Associates, LLC.
Throughout those years, however, books remained an important part of my life. Some of my favorite reading eventually became the books I shared with my children, and now, with my grandchildren.
Becoming a grandpa gave me a whole new appreciation for the way young children experience ordinary events. Learning to swim, starting school, first fishing trips, trying something frightening, making a mistake, or doing something without a parent’s help may seem small to an adult, but can represent an enormous step to a four-year-old. Those moments became the inspiration for my picture book writing.
I am particularly interested in stories in which children aren’t simply told to be brave, but gradually discover confidence through experience, encouragement, practice, and their own choices. I believe the best picture books entertain children first while quietly leaving them with something they can carry into their own lives.
“Just as the pediatrician cares for our children's bodies, the kid's book author attends to our children's souls.”
Mac Barnett Make Believe: On Telling Stories to Children, 2026
I live in Maryland with my wife Donna. We share five children and eight grandchildren. I will most likely be found working on my next picture book as we spend time with kids and grandkids in Maryland, Virginia, and St John, U.S. Virgin Islands where we spend most winters.
About Our Logo
Our compass rose serves as a powerful metaphor for the guidance, life direction, and exploration that can be achieved through books.
It reminds us that the act of learning to read is not a passive chore, that it is an active journey of discovery. Books provide us the lifelong value of helping us “navigate” the world through text and illustration. Though rooted in maritime navigation, our compass rose evokes exploration, travel, and the urge to discover new frontiers.
It is there to help find your right path through unknown waters, staying on your course, and always safely returning home.
Learning to read is the ultimate tool for personal independence. Our compass rose symbolizes your independence and confidence in your ability to find your way.