Jude Isabella started writing kids books when she was managing editor of YES Mag: Canada’s Science Magazine for Kids. Her inspiration mostly comes from paying attention to things that make her laugh and things that make her angry (she learned that from a famous journalist named Molly Ivins). #Jude makes her living as a journalist and has found that when working she only lasts about 90 minutes before she has to get up and run around. Seriously, run. Or bicycle. Or walk really fast.#A resident of Victoria, British Columbia, Jude lives with her husband, composer Tobin Stokes, a raccoon that refuses to be evicted from the bicycle shed and a small group of deer that graze the garden each summer. When she’s not writing or interviewing scientists, Jude is most likely to be found riding her pretty green bicycle.

Elizabeth Suneby loves to play with words!#Writing helps Liz come up with new ideas, learn new things, figure out her feelings and express them to other people. Writing is also how Liz earns a living. She writes for companies big and small. She writes magazine articles. And she writes books for children and teens that help them find their voice in a hopeful world.#Watch for Liz’s latest book, No Room for A Pup!, in the fall of 2019. The thoroughly modern and humorous twist on a venerable Yiddish folktale (popularized in Margot Zemach’s 1978 Caldecott Honor book, It Could Always Be Worse) highlights the importance of gratitude and weaves in the ubiquitous “I want a dog” story. A fun read-aloud that reinforces the power of thankfulness and perseverance.#Liz’s multiple award–winning book Iqbal and His Ingenious Idea: How a Science Project Helps One Family and the Planet is her second in the CitizenKid series. It is a great read for anyone who loves science, the environment or learning about world cultures.#Another book Liz wrote in the CitizenKid series is Razia’s Ray of Hope: One Girl’s Dream of an Education. This multiple award–winning title is based on the true story of a girl in Afghanistan and how she convinces the men in her family to allow her to go to school. Can you believe that in some countries not all kids are able to go to school? In fact, 69 million school-aged children around the world are currently being denied an education. Liz leads interactive workshops with students that explore the topics of discrimination, determination and education for all.#Teachers and librarians, please contact Liz at liz@elizabethsuneby.com if you are interested in having her lead a workshop. Also, the Khaled Hosseini Foundation adopted the Razia book into their work with International Baccalaureate Schools and developed free curricula for all elementary and middle school educators.#Liz’s other award-winning titles include It’s a … It’s a … It’s a Mitzvah (picture book), That’s A Mitzvah (board book), The Mitzvah Project Book (nonfiction), The JGuy’s Guide: The GPS for Jewish Teen Guys (nonfiction) and See What You Can Be (activity book).

Kari Trogen has been writing stories since elementary school, when she was the only kid in her class who wanted to stay inside for “Writer’s Workshop” rather than play kickball. She liked to read and write stories about orphan girls, islands and, especially, orphan girls on islands! She also loved directing her two little sisters in fairy tale plays.#Kari studied English literature at the University of Alberta in her hometown of Edmonton. It was while living in Surrey, England, during her third year that she realized she wanted to be a professional writer.#Kari received a Master of Arts in English and creative writing from the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton, where she wrote a creative thesis based on the life of L. M. Montgomery.#Margaret and the Moth Tree began on a trip Kari took with her sisters from Fredericton to Grand Manan Island, when she and her sister Brit decided to try writing a children’s story together. They began cowriting the book in 2009 just as Kari moved to Toronto. #While studying book editing at Ryerson University, Kari interned at Kids Can Press, the very publisher who would eventually accept Margaret and the Moth Tree for publication.#Kari now works as a freelance writer in Toronto and lives with her husband, a filmmaker.#She is inspired by all the books and authors she treasured growing up, and she loves getting to meet and talk with children and adults who love stories, too.

Brit Trogen grew up in Edmonton, Alberta, a few steps away from the river valley. As a child she discovered a love of books with the help of her mother and grandparents who were always happy to offer a ride to the nearest library. Her favorites were the ones with hobbits, wizards and animals who talked.#With an early interest in science and nature, she completed a Bachelor of Science degree in biology and worked for several years in a lab poking at worms and frog eggs. She soon found, however, that her greater passion lay in writing.#Her first short story was published by On Spec Magazine, after winning a contest for young writers. Since then she has published more short fiction, written science video scripts, cofounded a science website and contributed to Discover Magazine, among others.#Her first children’s novel, Margaret and the Moth Tree, was coauthored with her sister Kari.#Brit now lives in New York City with her husband and two cats, where she works as a freelance writer.

Helaine Becker is the bestselling author of more than 100 books for children and young adults, including the enduring Canadian Christmas classic A Porcupine in a Pine Tree and the international bestseller Counting on Katherine. She’s a multi-time winner of the Silver Birch Award and a two-time winner of the Lane Anderson Award for science writing for children. She has had three nonfiction titles recognized by the Junior Library Guild, and her book Lines, Bars and Circles: How William Playfair Invented Graphs was selected as a Bank Street College Best Children’s Book of the Year.#Helaine also writes for children’s television, and is in high demand as a performer at schools and festivals across North America. She has toured three times for TD Canadian Children’s Book Week and has been a featured speaker at the World Science Festival in NY, the Vancouver Writers Festival, the Tucson Festival of Books, the Frye Festival in New Brunswick, ALOUD: a Celebration for Young Readers in Toronto, the Weaving Words Festival, the Literacy for Life Conference and the Orange County Children’s Book Festival in California. She annually speaks to thousands of kids at schools and libraries all over the world, inspiring children to discover the superpower of literacy for themselves.#A New York native, Helaine has lived happily in Toronto for more than 20 years. She shares her home with her husband and a werewolf named Xena. (Her two grown sons, wisely, live elsewhere.) Helaine volunteers for several literacy organizations and charities, including First Book, ABC Literacy, CODE and Librarians Without Borders. She is also a certified pyrotechnician, so – KABOOM! – expect fireworks at any time.