Let children be children!

Children deserve the freedom to explore their imaginary worlds while we guide them with steady moral principles. They aren't mini adults capable of weighing life-changing choices. Children are dreamers who need space to believe they're superheroes or mythical creatures, while we age-appropriately and gently guide them to understand the boundary between fantasy and reality. The make-believe stage passes quickly enough. In the meantime, preserve their wonder about Santa Claus and safeguard that precious, fleeting window of childhood innocence.

Why do I write children's books?

Lecture a child about morality, and watch their eyes glaze over. But wrap those same lessons in a captivating tale, and they'll absorb every word without realizing they're learning.

My own love affair with books began in childhood, sitting beside my father as he opened worlds through stories. Though I initially crafted novels for adults, alternate histories and magical realism, everything changed when a friend lamented the scarcity of children's books that both entertained and inspired.

That conversation sparked my journey into children's literature, creating tales where friendship, acceptance, and compassion bloom naturally through adventures with characters who face bullies, embrace differences, and discover the danger of hasty judgments.

I get inspirations from

My stories spring from moments etched in my memory:
When the old spinster in my neighborhood tried to drown kittens in the river and my friends and I rescued them.
Kneeling beside a brave-faced boy in the ER telling me a story, after I gave him a shot, with a wide smile on his face and sparkles in his eyes, but I didn't understand a word because he spoke Spanish.

Watching sunlight catch on a young girl's tears as she struggled with her wheelchair at the museum while other children mocked her determination.

When I saw a sister and brother bickering, calling each other names and ready to tear each other's hair out at the beach. But, when the little girl fell and hit her knee on a rock, all the bickering was forgotten in an instant. The boy hugged his sister and carried her to the blanket across the hot sand to their mother.

Marmalade, my reading buddy

As a child, I shared my bedroom with an orange tabby called Marmalade. She would curl up by my side each night, her rumbling purr vibrating through my pajamas as I read aloud from dog-eared storybooks until we both drifted to sleep.
Though Marmalade has been gone for many years now, I still feel the phantom weight of her against my side whenever I open a book at bedtime.

English, Spanish, bilingual, and Hungarian books

Click on the book covers

Noodles, the kind-hearted dog, always feels sad when his best friend gets him into trouble, mocks him, and only thinks about herself. Despite Cicada’s naughty behavior, Noodles always forgives her. But can he find it in his heart to forgive her once more after her latest selfish manner?

Nudeln war sehr verärgert darüber, dass Zikade, die gefräßig Katze, ihn immer wieder in Schwierigkeiten brachte, sich über ihn lustig machte und eigennützig war. Der gutherzige, sanfte Hund hatte seinem Freund den Unfug immer verziehen, aber würde er ihm jetzt wieder verzeihen?

Nudlinak nagyon rosszul esik, hogy Kabóca, a pákosztos macska, folyton bajba keveri, csúfolja, és önzően viselkedik vele. A jólelkű, szelíd természetű kutya mindig elnézi barátja gonoszkásait, de vajon most is megbocsát majd neki?

Storybook for children 4-10 Bianca and Daniel stand up to brute bullies and when they see a woman trying to drown kittens in the river, they save them with the help of Bianca’s dog.

Libro de cuentos ilustrado para niños de 4 a 10 años. Bianca y Daniel se enfrentan a los matones brutos y cuando ven a una mujer tratando de ahogar a los gatitos en el río, los salvan con la ayuda del perro de Bianca.

Bilingual storybook for children 4-10. Pico, the parrot, is sad and frustrated. He screeches and squawks all day but because he speaks Spanish, nobody understands him. His story teaches children acceptance, compassion, and helping others.

Storybook for children 4-10. Terry's precious music box, that was a gift from her Grandmother, is stolen. She finds out why she has the ability to talk to animals and why the good witch enchanted her music box so long ago.

Storybook for children 4-12. A little girl teaches her family and her friends how to relate to someone who is hearing impaired. When Grandma Rosa lost her hearing, Sandra finds a website for hearing impaired people that explains how deaf people communicate. They start learning sign language and to “talk” with their fingers.

Libro de cuentos para niños de 4 a 12 años. Cuando la abuela Rosa perdió la audición, Sandra encuentra un sitio web para personas con discapacidad auditiva que explica cómo se comunican las personas sordas. Empiezan a aprender el lenguaje de señas y a "hablar" con los dedos.

Storybook for children 4-10. For her exceptional creative abilities, Emma is rewarded with a magic pencil by an art fairy. She can make anything she draws with the pencil turn into a colorful painting, and she can also wish her painting to become real. But when a pesky mouse threatens to eat the magic pencil and becomes demanding, things get out of hand.

Libro de cuentos bilingüe para niños artísticos de 4 a 10 años. Por sus excepcionales habilidades creativas, un hada del arte recompensa a Emma con un lápiz mágico. Puede hacer que cualquier cosa que dibuje con el lápiz se convierta en una pintura colorida, y también puede desear que su pintura se vuelva real. Pero cuando un molesto ratón amenaza con comerse el lápiz mágico, y se vuelve exigente, las cosas se salen de control.

Illusztrált mesekönyv 4-10 éves gyerekeknek. A művészet tündére, látva Emma kivételesen kreatív rajzait, egy varázsceruzával jutalmazza. Azt mondja Emmának, hogy bármit, amit a ceruzával rajzol, színes festménnyé változik. Sőt, Emma még azt is kívánhatja, hogy festménye életre keljen. De amikor egy éhes egér azzal fenyegetőzik, hogy megeszi a varázsceruzát, Emma először teljesíti a bosszantó egér kívánságait, majd éles eszét használva, okosan tőrbe csalja az egeret, és megmenti a varázsceruzát.

Illustrated storybook for preschoolers and early readers. Pierre's beauty was praised all the time, and the pretty peacock became arrogant. He looked down on others and treated everyone terribly. He believed that outer beauty was all that mattered. But when he got into trouble, he learned the value of loyal friends and changed his attitude toward others.

Libro bilingüe para niños en edad preescolar y primeros lectores. La belleza de Pierre era elogiada todo el tiempo y el hermoso pavo real se volvió muy arrogante. Miraba por encima del hombro a los demás y trataba a todos terriblemente. Él creía que la belleza exterior era todo lo que importaba. Pero cuando se metió en problemas, aprendió el valor de los amigos leales y cambió su actitud hacia los demás.

A read to story for children 4-7 and read alone for ages 8-10 Lucky, the sweet-natured little monkey was bullied by the animals who didn't take time to get to know her. They said she was a dumpy, chunky, silly, scaredy, grumpy, clumsy monkey. Lucky was sad but instead of feeling miserable, she chose to listen to her friend who knew her and said that Lucky was a lovely, cuddly, bubbly, spunky monkey.”

Picture book for children 2-7 Hophop, the little bunny, is sad because he can't read his book. Ollie, the wise owl, shows him the alphabet and teaches him to read the fun and easy way.

Libro ilustrado para niños de 2 a 7 años Hophop, el conejito, está triste porque no puede leer su libro. Ollie, el búho sabio, le muestra el abecedario y le enseña a leer de forma fácil y divertida.

Children’s book for ages 4-12 Three stories in one book: A Basketful of Kittes, Pico the Pesky Parrot, and Look, I can Talk With My Fingers.

Children's picture book for ages 2-6 Penny always wants to do what her big brother does. She imitates his every move and constantly tweets, “Me, too.” Spike is angry at his sister and threatens to name her Metoo, but when the two young chickens face danger, Spike realizes how important family is and happy to have a sometimes annoying, but loving and brave little sister.

Picture book for children 2-6. Terry is struggling to learn numbers. Pansy, Terry’s dog, and Pansy’s best friend, Oliver, the hedgehog, want to help but they don’t know how. In the morning, Terry tells her mother that the fairy showed her the numbers in her dream.

Adventure series for children 6-12

Golden Book Award Winner, spooky and funny heroic fantasy adventure for middle-grade children.
Creepy Hollow is a mystical place where children can be mighty warriors and battle the forces of evil, where animals talk and ghosts join in the fight to save their land, and where wishes really do come true. fun, humorous and touching story for kids, with plenty of character interaction woven into a backdrop of scary danger, heroic action and lessons to be learned.

Paperback covers front and back

Read a few pages from the book

Audiobook recorded by children

I'm honored that one of my children's books was chosen to be narrated by the children of the Katahdin School's book club after-school program, with the lead of Carrie Wimmer narrator. The children did a fantastic job while having fun and learning about the work of the narrators.

The audio book is available at AUDIBLE

Listen to a short sample

A few reviews

5 stars by You can call me Lynn

Family Friendly Story
"This is a children's book for around 3rd grade and up.
Bianca and her best friend, Daniel along with her dog Peanut set off to go swimming on the first day of summer. Along the way they encounter classmates. One who is down right mean and influences the behavior of others. As they are swimming, an old woman throws some kittens in the water. Will the best friends be able to save the felines?
I really loved the book and especially how Ms. Szabo treated the subject matter. This is a family friendly story I believe people elementary school and up will enjoy."

5 stars by Susan Keefe

A lovely and very informative book which actually shows how to sign
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​When Sandra’s much loved Grandma Rose starts to lose her hearing, whilst her parents become increasingly frustrated, and sad, little Sandra has a brilliant idea. You see grandma has problems hearing the right sounds, so she gets the words muddled, and so Sandra shows her grandma a picture of the thing she is talking about on her IPad. Grandma Rose and Sandra make the problem into a game by having fun and using a rhyming game. Then one day Sandra discovers a signing website…
Soon grandma and granddaughter are learning how to sign together, and when they notice what fun their daughter is having, her parents even join in.
Then one sunny day Sandra meets a little boy called Thomas who is deaf, he is sad and lonely because of his disability. Befriending him, he tells her he can lip read and soon he is no longer lonely, he is joining in with her friends, and teaching the other children how to sign.
This is a lovely story which delivers important lessons in a wonderful way. Through Sandra’s acceptance of her grandma’s problem and positive attitude to overcoming the difficulties, the reader is taught valuable lessons about friendship, support and helping people with a disability fit into the community.
I downloaded this with my Kindle Unlimited subscription as my grandchildren are hear and their granddad is hard of hearing. They loved listening to it, and we had fun together practicing the signing which is in the book. A real gem of a book!

5 Stars by JED

You can always make the best of what seems like a bad situation

​This was a fun book that teaches not only that sign language can be an important tool, but that you can always make the best of what seems like a bad situation
When Sandra’s grandmother gets sick and loses some of her hearing it seems like the end of their great daily conversations. Then Sandra finds a website that tells the different hand positions for letters in sign language. This leads to a wonderful learning experience that brings the whole family closer together and leads to new friendships.
Overall a fun read and a fun learning experience that kids and families should enjoy.

5 Stars by Taabiana

I see why its on Amazon's top list!

​What a joyful story. It sent me back to when I was in elementary and had to learn sign language for our graduation ceremony. I loved learning and enjoyed teaching younger children to sign the alphabet when I became an adult.
Sandra and her grandmother have a special bond. That bond is jeapordized when grandma's hearing goes bad. Read how one little girl teaches her grandmother, her family, and her friends, how to relate to someone who is hearing impaired.
A must read for the young and old. You're never to old to learn as Author Erika Szabo shows us in this bestselling book.

5 stars by Cathy Collar

​I love this little book that teaches children and adults about the difficulties people of all ages face with the loss of hearing. In this book Erika shows us a fun and exciting way to communicate with the hearing impaired. This book is a wonderful way to teach your child the importance of getting to know all of the facts before you judge a person. I would definitely recommend this book for every child to read.

5 stars by 1DreamReader

A Great Teaching Tool!

Look I Can Talk With My Fingers is a children’s book with endless teaching opportunities! As a children’s reading specialist I am recommending this book highly. A great teaching tool! This book can be read by children ages 8 on up, as a shared book, or a read-aloud by another. Grandma Rosa loses her hearing and her granddaughter Sandra helps her find a way to overcome her disability by learning to sign. There are colorful images included with the symbols for signing to allow children to actually learn the basics here. The lesson of compassion is dealt with in a most wonderful way. As a teacher I will be sharing this story with my students. We will also enjoy practicing the hand signals and forming the words, which are also provided in the book. Well done author Erika M Szabo!

5 stars by Sandra Bennett

A Wonderful Teaching Resource

​A delightful story for use at home or in the classroom. Let Erika M. Szabo take you on a learning journey from hearing loss and sadness to acceptance and understanding as you and your kids read this wonderful short chapter book. Sandra and her grandmother are saddened when they discover they can no longer continue their usual after school chats after her grandmother becomes partially deaf. The family is frustrated that grandma can no longer follow conversations which leads Sandra to search for a solution. Eventually she finds a sign language website and together they begin to learn a whole new language. This proves enormous value to Sandra when she meets a hearing impaired boy at the playground. The other kids don't want to play with him because he is different but once Sandra breaks down the barriers through signing the other children accept the new member into the group. This is a story that teaches tolerance and understanding besides how to sign. Classroom teachers would find this enormous value.