Before Fran Manushkin became a writer, she worked as an edi­to­r­i­al assis­tant at Harp­er & Row with Ursu­la Nord­strom and Char­lotte Zolo­tow. When Fran speaks at schools, she shows chil­dren her messy man­u­scripts and talks about how much stub­born­ness and good humor it takes to accom­plish any­thing in life. She is the author of more than 75 books for chil­dren over her four-decade career.