Dr. Michael Sampson is a Fulbright Scholar and an American children's author best known for easy-to-read books that feature rhythmic and repetitive language.

Sampson's first children's book, The Football That Won, was written solo in 1992 and illustrated by Ted Rand.

[2] Born in Denison, Texas, to Roy and Ida Faye Sampson, Sampson studied in the Denison public schools until grade three, at which time his family (brothers Bill and Bryan and sister Patsy) moved to Tom Bean, Texas.

He had written a series of books featuring Frank and Joe of The Hardy Boys fame, and even had a poem published in a national magazine.

[3] During high school, Michael Sampson won a scholarship to East Texas State University, where he earned a degree in 1974 in Political Science with a teaching endorsement.

[citation needed] Michael Sampson met children's author and educator Bill Martin Jr at a reading conference in Tucson, Arizona in 1978.

He made visits across the United States and countries in South America and Eastern and Western Europe, including Italy, Great Britain, Germany and Ukraine.