Patricia Polacco was born on July 11th in Lansing, Michigan. An inquisitive child, she grew up in a family of storytellers, and stresses that they did not own a TV. She received her BA from Monash University and then went to Australia for five years. There she received her MA and PhD in art history at the University of Melbourne. The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators played an important role in her development as an author and illustrator. Ms. Polacco's first book, Meteor!, was published when she was 41. Since then she has published many cherished books such as Chicken Sunday, Rechenka's Eggs (a Reading Rainbow book), and The Keeping Quilt. Today, Ms. Polacco lives in California and in her spare time enjoys running marathons and decorating Ukranian Easter eggs.

—Vicki Palmquist