Author Michael Kujawa visited the Findlay-area Campus.
From Sydney to story time: Findlay author returns home to launch first children’s book at Owens Early Learning Center
May 15th, 2026
When Michael Kujawa was planning how to debut his first children’s book, he couldn’t think of a better place to do it than where he was a kid.
The Findlay native returned to his hometown recently to introduce his book, The Magic Stick Box, including a stop at the Early Learning Center on the Owens Community College Findlay-area Campus.
Kujawa moved to Los Angeles in 2000 and has lived in Sydney, Australia since 2009. He decided to combine the book debut with a trip back home to visit his parents.
“I get to enjoy observing the kids enjoying the story and watching their faces light up,” Kujawa said. “I’m bringing it home to the area where I grew up. This is where I was a kid, so it feels appropriate to officially launch it here.”
Kujawa spent time at the Early Learning Center reading his book to the classes as well as leading them in activities.
“We promote literacy, so it was great to have an author come in and read to the kids,” said Elizabeth Kutschbach, manager of the Owens Findlay-area Campus Child Care Center. “They really enjoyed it. From the time he got here, he was so excited to be here, and the kids fed off that excitement. The way he reads the story and communicates with the kids, the way he works with them through the activity has been amazing to watch.”
Kujawa wrote the book nearly a decade ago, around the same time he and his wife were trying to have children. When those efforts didn’t work, he began writing as a way to share his energy.
The book went through editing, and Erin Richardson came aboard as the illustrator. Then came a stalled marketing debut — but at a certain point, Kujawa knew the story just needed to get out.
“The fact that I’ve been 9 in my head for most of my life does all the informing. Any observation I have ends up turning into some horrible pun, most of which I share with the world,” Kujawa said. “I think it’s more about who I’ve always been.”
Kujawa said his experiences with the readings have gotten easier and more fun as he’s gotten more comfortable with the process.
“It’s really exciting when I do the questions afterwards and they remember,” Kujawa said. “It’s connecting with them, they’re remembering it. It’s fun, it’s still fresh but now I’m starting to enjoy it rather than panic at every page turn to remember what word comes next.”