While growing up, Rita Hensel's early interests were in art and writing. She spent time drawing, writing poetry and journaling short stories. She enjoyed reading and visiting her school library.

Some of her favorites were, "Dorrie and the Blue Witch," "Chocolate Fever," "The Gingerbread Man," and "How to Eat Fried Worms."

In school, Rita enjoyed taking art classes. Her interests were in watercolors, acrylics, ink, pastels, pencil sketching and clay pottery. In high school she focused on commercial art, which uses various art medias.

Rita's first published poem, "Oh Sweet One," was written for her second son shortly after his birth. After publishing it, her first son inspired Rita to write, "Little Bear".

As the published author of the new children's books series, "Humble Stew", Rita Hensel enjoys writing and illustrating fun-filled stories for young readers. While sharing fun and laughter, and discovering that learning goes both ways, Rita was inspired by her own children to write the series. While spending time outdoors, she finds that nature lends creativity to her illustrations. Rita's artistic background made the possibility of illustrating her own book a reality. She continues to write and illustrate while raising her two sons. She lives in Michigan with her husband, two sons and their dog, Dodger.