Phoebe Gilman's first book, The Balloon Tree, took 15 years to be
published! In the meantime she was an instructor at the Ontario
College of Art (OCA), a painter and parent. Her husband, Brian
Bender, appears as the king in The Balloon Tree. In 1990 she
retired from OCA so that she could be a writer and illustrator
full'time.
Phoebe was born in The Bronx, NY, and studied at the New York
High School of Art and Design, Hunter College, New York and the Art
Students' League, New York. As a young artist one of her passions
was travel and she lived in Europe and Israel for extended
periods.
Her published works include the irrepressible Jillian Jiggs and
Once Upon a Golden Apple written by Jean Little. In 1993 she was
honoured with the Ruth Schwartz Award and the Sydney Taylor Award,
both for the book Something From Nothing and the Vicky Metcalf
Award for her contribution to the field of children's literature in
Canada.
Her advice for aspiring writers includes the admonition to
"Read. Read. Read!, Write. Write. Write!"