T-R PHOTO BY SARA JORDAN-HEINTZ - Local educator and musician Deborah Nuss has just written and illustrated her first children’s book entitled “Where Does Music Come From?” The book is aimed at toddlers and young children and is meant to be an interactive reading experience.

Local educator and musician Deborah Nuss has just written and illustrated her first children’s book entitled “Where Does Music Come From?”

A native of Saint Louis, Mo., she has been a teacher for 30 years – 23 years spent in Marshalltown. She currently serves as the volunteer music teacher at Marshalltown Christian School for students K-8.

“I have been a writer my whole life. When I started teaching, there were empty spaces – something I needed and couldn’t find, so I wrote it,” Nuss said. “We wrote songs in the classroom. We wrote an opera. We wrote two musicals and staged them.”

She earned a degree from Drake University in music education, with an emphasis in voice/piano and decided to remain in Iowa upon graduating.

“I love Iowa,” she said.

Her book centers on a child who seeks to learn where music comes from – encountering it in many forms along the journey.

The book is aimed at toddlers and young children and is meant to be an interactive reading experience.

“Children’s responses to rhythm, rhyme and repetition are as natural as breathing. Toss in imitation of animal sounds and the combination is a winner,” she said in the book’s synopsis.

Both she and her husband Rev. Harlan Nuss have been involved in musical theater and sacred musical productions including “The Messiah.” Her writings include prose, poetry, songs, musicals, Orff orchestrations and monologues with original music based on women in the Bible. She has experience as a Christian speaker and retreat leader. She won an award from the Iowa Choral Directors Association for an anthem she wrote.

The book, released by LifeRich Publishing, an imprint of Reader’s Digest, is available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Signed copies are available directly from the author.

Nuss will hold a book signing from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. May 3 at Stepping Stones Christian Bookstore in Marshalltown, and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. May 4 at the store’s Grinnell location.

Nuss said she sees a future in writing additional children’s book, especially with a plot line aimed at one of her grandchildren. She noted how her grandsons, age 4 and 11, experienced the July 2018 tornado with her. Her goal would be to develop a story that could help with the healing process of trauma caused by that storm.

For more information, and to obtain the book, Nuss may be reached at 641-754-9017.