Johanna Hurwitz wrote her first book when she was in fourth grade in the Bronx. It was illustrated by a classmate and they are still friends. Don’t look for the book in your school or public library because it won’t be there. The book was never published. In fact, there is just one copy in all the world, and it is kept safe in a zip-locked bag in Johanna’s briefcase. She takes it to schools to show students and tell them it’s never too early to begin writing, learning music, practicing sports, and planning ahead.
Johanna didn’t publish her first book, Busybody Nora, until she was 38 years old. Since then, she has written and published more than 70 books, including The Riverside Kids series, Class Clown, Baseball Fever, and biographies of Anne Frank, Leonard Bernstein, and Helen Keller.
She has also been a children’s librarian in school and public libraries. And she has traveled all over the United States and other countries talking to children, teachers, and parents about reading and writing. One of her favorite activities is exploring second-hand bookstores and discovering wonderful out-of-print books that she wasn’t looking for and didn’t even know existed. She has two children and three grandchildren. She has owned four cats, but not all at the same time. Johanna lives in Vermont and Long Island, NY.
