Jan Bourdeau Waboose is a Nishnawbe Ojibway from Northern Ontario who based SkySisters on her own childhood experiences and her relationship with her older sister. #In her writing, she tries to convey the Indigenous life she sees in her family, friends and community – a larger, fuller picture than the stereotypes prevalent in North American society, she says.#In the late 1960s, Jan began a long-term relationship with the Indian Bands of Ontario, working with them for ten years and eventually heading their child welfare program. Her interest in writing developed in tandem with this organizational work. She has written for many Indigenous magazines and newspapers on issues connected with child welfare. She has also tried to correct inaccurate media portrayals of Indigenous people and Indigenous life. And she has written personal material – stories and poems – which now, increasingly, are being published.

In 1983, Toronto journalist Paulette Bourgeois decided to write a children’s book. All she needed was an idea. That idea came one night as she was watching an episode of the television series M*A*S*H. The character of Hawkeye Pierce refused to enter a cave because he was claustrophobic. “I’m so scared that if I were a turtle, I’d be afraid of my own shell,” he said. Thus was born Franklin in the Dark, a tale of a little green turtle who’s afraid of small dark places, including his own shell. The name of the turtle came, Bourgeois thought, out of the blue. “Now I realize that Hawkeye’s full name is Franklin Benjamin Pierce!”#The story was rejected by six publishers before Kids Can Press expressed interest. After Bourgeois rewrote the story several times, it was sent to illustrator Brenda Clark. For that first story, there was no collaboration between author and illustrator; in fact, the two didn’t meet until after the book was published. “When I first saw the illustrations, I was overwhelmed by Brenda’s talent”, says Bourgeois. “I think the reason the books have done so well is because Brenda has made the characters so empathetic”. Franklin in the Dark sold an astounding 10 000 copies when it appeared in 1986.#Despite the success of her first effort, Bourgeois was surprised when Kids Can Press asked her to write a second Franklin story. “Franklin in the Dark was one story about one thing”, she said. “I never intended to write a series”. However, she found another situation true to the life of a five year old and Hurry Up, Franklin was published in 1989. Bourgeois and Clark have since created more than two dozen Franklin stories that appear in 31 countries and 17 languages, including Hebrew, Greek and Turkish. There are now more than 20 million Franklin books in print around the world, a television series, and a host of Franklin merchandise. #Bourgeois’ journey from journalist to children’s book writer followed a somewhat meandering path. Born in Winnipeg, Bourgeois was eight when her family began a series of moves. “Many people think moving is a terrible experience”, she says. “I liked it. You learn to adapt to new situations and always have a sense that you are, for a while, an outsider looking in. Writers are observers, and I wonder if moving a lot when I was younger honed my observational skills”. #Bourgeois earned a B.Sc. at the University of Western Ontario and became a psychiatric occupational therapist. After working in her field for two years, she decided it wasn’t for her. “I realized I genuinely enjoyed writing reports more than I did the therapeutic situations”, she says. To explore the writing process further, Bourgeois enrolled in the journalism program at Ottawa’s Carlton University. She launched her career working for the Ottawa Citizen and then as an on-air reporter for CBC-TV. Bourgeois then moved to Washington, D.C., where she began freelancing for Chatelaine, Canadian Living, Reader’s Digest and Maclean’s. “The decision to freelance was made for me”, she explains. “I couldn’t get a full-time job because I couldn’t get a green card”. #By 1983, Bourgeois was back in Toronto and expecting her first child. “I didn’t want to run around the country doing interviews, working long hours and trying to take care of a baby”, she says. So she decided to write a children’s book. “I see writing as a job, so I approached this goal pragmatically. I went to the library and started at ‘A’ in the picture-book section and read through to ‘Z’. At the end, I knew what I liked and what I thought was good. All I needed was the idea”. Enter Hawkeye Pierce.

Katherine Burton is a primary school teacher. One Gray Mouse was her first picture book. She lives in Calgary, Alberta.

I always loved to read. As a boy I had a passion for myths, bible stories, science fiction and Mad magazine. My neighbor was a writer for CBC. Maybe I caught the writing bug from him. I loved to write funny stories. My Grade six teacher liked them. But my Grade eight teacher hated them. So I stopped writing creatively until I was 42.~ ~In 1970, I traveled across Europe and North Africa and discovered a remarkable collection of traditional Teaching stories by Afghan writer Idries Shah. These bottomless tales puzzled, shocked and delighted me. They helped me see the world and myself in fresh, new ways. They made me think like I’d never thought before.#In 1980, I began to tell them, first to my own children, then at weekly gatherings in Toronto. Later I told stories on radio and television, and in schools, libraries and festivals across North America. I created an oral language program for developmentally disabled children. I taught them language through story. They taught me how to tell and write simply and dramatically.#One day I was invited to tell a Chanukah tale to a large and very young audience. I couldn’t find a story I liked. In desperation I wrote one myself. The children loved it and so did Kids Can Press. That’s how Bone Button Borscht was born.#Over the years, I’ve worked as a logger, farmer, salesman and teacher. Now I write and tell stories. ~Of my four published books, my latest, Bagels for Benny, has won may awards including the Sydney Taylor Award and the Canadian Jewish Book Awards Children’s Literature Prize. I have also written the screenplay for Sheldon Cohen’s animated film, The Three Wishes. A forthcoming title, A Hen for Izzy Pippik, will be published in 2010.

Jane was born at the Toronto General Hospital in 1954, the third child of four. She attended the University of Western Ontario and switched from English to History when, in primitive computer days, she was dealt a blank timetable. She worked as a research assistant for a history professor, honing her library skills while ferreting out obscure information and storing it on a database — great groundwork for a future non-fiction writer. Her first published work was a travel piece for the Whitehorse Star in 1972, written while visiting Ann in the Yukon.#Early married life took Jane to Ireland, London and Kingston, Ontario, and Paris, France, before they settled in Toronto. Jane was a founding director of her local public school child care center and organized the extended kindergarten enrichment programs. She ran school wide interest groups and coordinated the library volunteers for many years. Her three children are now grown. Nellie, a ginger cat, and Angus, a bouncy young Labrador, crowd Jane’s office while she writes.#Jane gave up a promising career in theater to write full time. Among many roles, she has played Mary in Mary Poppins, a hula dancer, Janice Joplin, the Queen of Hearts and Lady Macbeth!#Jane and Ann volunteered as the CANSCAIP monthly meeting coordinators from 2005-2007. Now Jane is Treasurer of CANSCAIP. She also volunteers with and serves on the board of the Canadian Children’s Book Bank in Toronto.#Starting in the late 1980s, Ann teamed up with her sister Jane Drake and, together, they have published nearly 30 books. Their works mostly have an environmental focus based on their shared upbringing and travels, with a preference for the remoter parts of Canada.