Author biography
Janice Shefelman is an author with a strong interest in making the past come alive through historical fiction. Her picture books, early readers, middle grade, and young adult novels, illustrated by husband Tom Shefelman, have won many awards. These include the New York Public Library Best Book for the Teen Age, the Children's Book Council Notable Book, Reading Rainbow Book, and the International Reading Association Children's Choices.
Her love of books began when her father, a German professor at S.M.U. in Dallas, read to her from an early age. This love led to careers as teacher, librarian, and writer. Books also gave her the desire to see the world. She spent one summer bicycling around Europe and another traveling in North Africa and the Middle East. When she married Tom, an architect, they set out on a yearlong journey around the world, traveling by freighter and living for a time in a Buddhist temple. Along the way, she wrote articles for newspapers and magazines, which Tom illustrated.
Janice and Tom returned to settle in Austin, Texas. Her writing career began to blossom when her first book, A Paradise Called Texas, appeared on the Texas Bluebonnet Award Master List. After raising two sons, Karl and Dan, who also illustrated some of her books, she now devotes full time to writing.
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