Trudee Romanek is a children’s book editor and the author of The Technology Book for Girls and Other Advanced Beings. She has also written magazine and textbook articles for kids and adults. She lives in Barrie, Ontario.

Judy Ann Sadler grew up in big, noisy family on a busy farm near London, Ontario. Ever since she can remember, she has loved to read, write and make things. When her kids were little, she decided to combine her love of words and crafts by writing craft books. She knows that making original, beautiful, useful items is amazing and wonderful, but there are also many other benefits to working with your hands: you become creative, curious, resourceful, patient, passionate and generous. She strives to be creative every day by writing words into stories, stitching fabric into quilts, knitting yarn into baby caps and baking ingredients into treats for sharing. Along with over 20 craft books, Judy Ann has written picture books, dozens of craft columns and numerous magazine features. Judy Ann’s books have been translated into many languages and have sold over a million copies around the world. She has made crafts and shared stories with tens of thousands of children in schools and libraries across the country. Judy Ann works part-time at two different branches of the London Public Library, where she’s delighted to spend time with books and the wonderful people who read them. One of the libraries Judy Ann works at is in a busy part of the city, and the other is in a rural village and has cows in the backyard. Judy Ann lives with her family in London, Ontario.

Deborah Hodge is the author of thirty-five books for children. She specializes in writing engaging nonfiction for young readers and loves the challenge of using few words to explain big thoughts.#Her honours include twice winning the Children’s Literature Roundtable of Canada’s Information Book Award, winning Santa Monica Public Library’s Green Prize for Sustainable Literature and receiving the Honour Book distinction for the National Jewish Book Award for Children’s Literature. Her work has also been featured on such lists as ALA’s Top Ten Best Environmental Books for Youth and IBBY’s Outstanding Books for Young People with Disabilities.#Before she was an author, Deborah was a teacher and curriculum writer for the British Columbia Ministry of Education. She says, “Although I’m not teaching anymore, I still feel like I’m talking to my students whenever I write a book. I love the process of trying to create something that young readers will find interesting.”#Deborah was born in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, and now lives with her family in Vancouver, British Columbia.#For more information, please see her website at: www.deborahhodge.com.

Etta Kaner writes for both children and educators. While the majority of her children’s books are nonfiction, some of her more recent books are a combination of fiction and nonfiction. Many of them have been translated into other languages. A number of her books have won awards, namely the Silver Birch Award, the ASPCA Henry Bergh Children’s Book Award, the Animal Behavior Society’s Outstanding Children’s Book Award, the Scientific American Young Readers Book Award and the Science in Society Book Award.#While her earlier books were inspired by her two daughters, many of her later books were inspired by the elementary school students whom she taught.#Etta loves to interview experts in fields with which she is unfamiliar, either in person or by phone. She finds that most people are very cooperative and love to talk about their area of interest and expertise. During these interviews, she often accumulates more information than she needs for her book. When making a decision as to what to include in the book, she uses the “wow” test. She tries to choose information that will make her readers say “wow” when they read it. ~ ~Writing books also allows Etta to create the many groaners that she likes to make up but which are not always appreciated by her family!#When she’s not writing or teaching, Etta loves to spend time with her family (her husband and two grown daughters), garden, read humorous or historical fiction books, dance, explore new places, go to live theater and cook for company (but not all at the same time!). She does all of these activities in Toronto, Canada.