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BIDDEFORD — In many ways, JoJo Thoreau is like any other children’s author. She visits schools and libraries to read to children. She signs copies of her work. She admits the editing process can be “really frustrating.”

But there’s one thing that sets her far apart from other children’s authors: She’s a child herself.

On Friday, the 10-year-old writer from Thorndike, who is Maine’s youngest published author, paid a visit to a classroom packed with children 4-8 years old at the St. Louis Child Development Center, at 229 Pool St. in Biddeford. Thoreau read her book “Bendy Wendy” to the children and also answered some of their questions.

Thoreau, whose actual name is Lydia Schofield, self-published the book, which is about a gymnast who has to overcome a back injury, last year, when she was just 9 years old.

She’s already finished writing her second book, she said Friday, and it’s in the process of being published.

After reading “Bendy Wendy,” while her mother, Tiffany Schofield, flipped through the pages to display the illustrations, Thoreau gave the children a few words of advice: “Stay persistent, never give up and follow your dreams.”

Tiffany Schofield said her daughter struggled with reading and writing when she was younger, and she hopes her success as an author will help other children who may be facing similar difficulties.

“She wants to inspire other kids who may be struggling with their reading and writing … because she had such a tough go at it starting out,” said Schofield. “She just loves to give back to other children by inspiring them. She’s having so much fun.”

“Any kind of enrichment you bring, it brings excitement, like it did today, to the children, and it gives them something else to think about, like ”˜Maybe that could be me,’” St. Louis director Todd Winship said about Thoreau’s visit.

Copies of “Bendy Wendy” can be ordered on LittleHandsPress.org, where they can also be personalized and signed.

Thoreau said she has too many favorite authors to list, but Dr. Seuss is one she certainly draws inspiration from.

When asked how she came up with her pen name, Thoreau said Josephine is her middle name, while Thoreau is a nod to famous author Henry David Thoreau.

“And it rhymes,” she added with a smile.

— Staff Writer Angelo J. Verzoni can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 329 or [email protected].