Connie Roop is a high school environmental science teacher, and a recipient of the Women Leaders in Education Award from the American Association of University Women and a Kohl Education Foundation Award for Exceptional Teaching. In 1997 and 1998 she led groups of students to Belize to study the rainforest. Together with her husband, Connie has written 60 children's books ranging from historical fiction to nonfiction. Seven of their books are "Reading Rainbow" books, including Keep the Lights Burning, Abbie, a Feature Book. Their books have received recognition from the National Association of Science Teachers, National Council of Teachers of English, the Children's Book Council, and the… American Library Association. They have also received Wisconsin's Laura Ingalls Wilder Book Award.