Toni L. Poll

Toni L. Poll is a Maine children’s author and creator of the Snickerdoodle Tales series. She grew up in Mattawamkeag, Maine, graduated from Mattanawcook Academy in Lincoln and Beal College in Bangor, and continues to live in the Bangor area.

Books and libraries have been part of Poll’s life since childhood. During her elementary-school years, when her grandmother cared for her after school, she would walk to the town library, where her grandmother was the librarian, and spend time there until they went home.

Her New England roots also include a special connection to the coast. Poll’s great-grandfather, Gerald M. Reed, served as head keeper at Brant Point Light on Nantucket for 20 years, from 1927 to 1947. Her grandmother grew up at the lighthouse station with her brothers. That family history remains part of Poll’s love of lighthouses and all things coastal.

Poll is the author of Snickerdoodle Wigglebutt McFluffy-Paws and the Great Giggle Adventure, illustrated by New Zealand illustrator Richard Hoit. Inspired by her own Maine Coon cat, the rhyming picture book follows the mischievous title character and her best friend, Fishy, as they discover the importance of friendship, compassion, laughter, and helping others. A BookLife review praised Poll’s flowing rhyme and Hoit’s vivid illustrations, as well as the story’s blend of fantasy and reality and its sense of coastal Maine.

Her second book, Snickerdoodle Wigglebutt McFluffy-Paws and A Sparkle for Snowbert, is a Christmas story centered on a mystery at Grammy’s farm. The farm was inspired by the place in Mattawamkeag where Poll spent holidays with her family. Both books also include a Maine Fun Facts page, giving families a glimpse of real Maine places they can visit and explore together.

Poll draws on her Maine upbringing, family memories, love of animals, and coastal New England heritage to create playful stories meant to be shared, laughed over, and enjoyed together.