Paula Groothuis’ rhymes transcend times. It’s something she’s given a whirl since a young girl. Her rhymes are the hook in her children’s books, and her rhyming books are her true north – which she welcomes the 24th.

But the 24th book is not the last stop, as 40 more ideas are found in her workshop.

Groothuis, an Albertson resident, is now the author of 24 children’s books, her latest released on Amazon just two weeks ago. But when asked to describe her job, she doesn’t immediately describe herself as a children’s book author. Instead, she says she is a rhymer.

Rhyming is within every aspect of Groothuis’ life.

“I just think throughout life, it is amazing how one little thing can lead to another,” Groothuis said.

Despite her lifelong passion for rhyming, Groothuis found it difficult to put into words what drew her to the word artform or even when she first discovered this talent.

All she said she knew was that she enjoyed it, which was what was important to her, and it came naturally to her.

Her rhyming passion began as a teenager, but upon deeper reflection, she found that it may have stemmed from earlier in her childhood when she would write and sing rhyming songs for her family members.

She said she found it a way to take life and spin it into a fun way, which she also found useful during low moments in her life.

“I’ve always tried to be positive,” Groothuis said.

Rhymes have been a part of Groothuis’ life in one way or another, but they didn’t become engrained in her life until she was an adult.

As an adult, Groothuis served on her local parent-teacher association board. When it was her time to leave the board, Groothuis wanted to extend her gratitude with a thoughtful thank you: a rhyme.

Groothuis was later approached by someone asking her to write a rhyme they could gift to a friend, offering to pay her for her rhyming words. Groothuis said this shocked her, but she accepted.

Having someone willing to pay for her rhymes for the first time inspired Groothuis to sell her rhymes to more people. So, she placed an ad in the paper seeking new rhyme clients.

Groothuis now had a rhyming business – the start of her rhyming career.

“What was so wonderful about it is people are talking about people they love,” Groothuis said. “It was for birthdays, retirements, weddings, anniversaries, candlelightings for bar mitzvahs.”

While rhyming has been her career, Groothuis shared many stories where her rhymes brought her together with people she may have never interacted with before.

This included a local coffee company that “used the coffee bean and created such wonderful caffeine” and gifted Groothuis some coffee for her praiseful rhymes, and at her 50th high school reunion where she recited: “Television has always been a gift from heaven. It has over a thousand channels but I liked it more when there were seven. It is good that we’re recycling and staying green, and the best is that tonight we all feel like we’re eighteen.”

“I just find it’s been one little thing after another,” Groothuis said.

Groothuis, though, never thought about publishing her rhymes. That was until she attended a writing class on behalf of someone else.

At the end of the class, Groothuis said she shared with the teacher her knack for rhyming and the arsenal she had of them at home. Soon later, Groothuis’ rhymes were published in her first book, “A Clearer Reflection.”

But Groothuis didn’t begin her rhyming children’s books until she returned to her former career as a speech therapist.

To help children with their vocabulary and self-esteem, Groothuis began creating her own rhyming books.

This is how her books “I’m OK” and “Vocabulary: Early History,” her first two children’s books, came to be in 2008.

Now, Groothuis has 24 children’s books published, covering topics such as environmentalism, manners, holidays, and even one about children with disabilities for the Henry Viscardi School. All of her books are focused on vocabulary and important lessons.

Her latest release is “Money: Keep an Eye to Save and Buy,” which offers lessons on money and its purpose.

Groothuis has been busy writing about two dozen books, which she attributed to greater time in her retirement.

“I just find that as you get older, you can’t sit around the house all day,” Groothius said. “I am thrilled that I literally never have nothing to do.”

And Groothuis doesn’t plan on slowing down any time soon as she scales a list of 40 more book ideas she’s planned for.

Groothuis said it is difficult to be able to sell her books in bookstores, but that she is seeking to partner with local schools to share her rhymes with their students.

She says while she writes books for children, they are also for parents, grandparents and teachers to help educate the children in their lives.

“It’s interesting because they’re not for every kid, in a certain way,” Groothuis said. “Kids want characters and stories, but [my books] are certainly for teaching the kids.”