Les Trois Cochons

Sheila Hèbert-Collins was born in Abbeville, Louisiana, the heart of Cajun country. She is what you'd call an authentic Cajun, since both her mother's and father's lineage trace back to Acadia in Canada. Hèbert-Collins grew up proud of her Cajun culture, and teaching the lower grades for twenty years instilled in her a love for children's literature. That passion for children's literature, combined with her Cajun pride, motivated her to rewrite cherished fairy tales with a Cajun twist. These stories were designed to teach younger children French, as well as to develop Cajun pride of their own.

Hèbert-Collins didn't start her writing career until she retired from teaching in Louisiana in 1989. In late 1993, her first Cajun fairy tale was published: Jolie Blonde and the Three Hèberts: A Cajun Twist to an Old Tale, which is a Cajun retelling of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. By 1996, she had four books published and had visited over 120 Louisiana schools and many public libraries, reading her Cajun fairy tales and promoting their culture.

Sheila Hèbert-Collins's name appears in the Louisiana State Artist Roster as an author and Cajun storyteller. She has presented for the Louisiana Reading Association's local and state conventions and has also appeared for the Florida Association of Media Educators, Lee County Reading Festival, and Florida Gulf Coast University.

In 1999, Sheila Hèbert-Collins became a school librarian, working on certification at the same time. She was certified in library science in 2000 and was hired as a media specialist at Manatee Elementary in Collier County, Florida, in 2002. During that year, her sixth fairy tale was published. Working in such a diversified school has given her more cultures to learn about and, more than ever, more reasons to promote cultural pride. She currently resides in Abbeville, Louisiana.