Author of over 400 Books for Children and Adults
I first heard the story of wicked King Edward Longshanks putting the captured Scottish Countess of Buchan in a cage through a folksong. Then I found out that Longshanks had not only put her in a cage, but Robert the Bruce’s sister and twelve year old daughter as well.
I first came upon the story of Firebird in the ballet, when Maria Tallchief as the Firebird and Francisco Moncion as Prince Ivan performed in New York on November 27, 1949. The ballet was choreographed for the New York City Ballet Company by George Balanchine
The idea of a Young Heroes series came from my editor at HarperCollins, but choosing to work with Bob Harris–already my co-conspirator from Queen’s Own Fool who had a degree from St Andrews University in
The third book in the Tartan Magic series. An American family comes to Scotland for the summer and immediately falls into magic. The setting is in Fairburn, a made-up city that
My family watches birds. It all began with my husband David, who is the original of Pa in OWL MOON. So when our youngest son Jason began his career as a nature photographer, bird pictures were part of his vast repertoire. So why has it taken
When my first grandchild, Maddison Jane Piatt, was born, I hurried across many states in a plane and then a taxi and made it with two hours to spare. I had been there at my daughter’s house the week before, helping her and her partner set up the baby’s room.
The idea of a Young Heroes series came from my editor at HarperCollins, but choosing to work with Bob Harris–already my co-conspirator from Queen’s Own Fool who had a degree from St Andrews University in Classics–that was my idea.
This book, about two feral children found in India in the 1920s and brought to an orphanage, is the second in a series of real-life unsolved mysteries for kids which I have written with my daughter Heidi Stemple. The first,
This is the fourth and I believe the last of the Welcome books, my poetic paean to various ecosystems. I have only been to the Everglades once, but it is a trip not forgotten. Thank goodness the powers that be are
My daughter, Heidi, and I have always sent each other notes — sometimes quick little memos left on a pillow or inside a journal, or letters and postcards sent through the mail. Now that there is