Bio

About Me

I'm the author of more than 20 books for children. Some of them have won awards and been published in other languages around the world. I love to imagine kids in faraway places turning the pages of one of my books.

I live in Vancouver, British Columbia, near the mountains and ocean, with my husband, Dave and our lively dog, Blaze. We have three great grown-up kids, Emily, Mike and Helen. They make us very proud. I work as a full-time writer, and as a speaker in schools, libraries and at conferences. I think I have the best job in the world!

(Please see my Official Biography here.)

Growing Up

I was born in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan and grew up in family with an older sister and two younger brothers. My parents read to us every night and took us to the library on the weekends. My dad, who is also a writer, used to tell us stories that he made up himself. We were thrilled when he changed his voice for different characters.

Teaching

When I grew up, I went to university and got my degree in Psychology. Then I took Teacher Training and taught Grades 1, 2 and 3 for more than ten years. My students were always looking for interesting wild animal books that they could read on their own. I remembered this when I started writing. That's why my first book was Bears.


Writing School Courses

Later, I took a leave of absence from teaching to write courses for the Distance Education Branch of the BC Ministry of Education. I wrote programs for kids who studied at home. It was at this job that I realized how much I loved writing. I never returned to the classroom; I started writing books instead.

Writing Books

I work all day (and lots of nights) on my books, and I often go to the library to do research. When I'm not writing, I'm thinking about new books that kids might like to read. I get ideas from talking to people, remembering my former students, reading books and newspapers, and playing with my 6-year-old niece.

Aside from spending time with my family, there's nothing I'd rather do than read or write a book.