Hi! I’m Ellen Schwartz. I write books for kids and magazine articles for adults. To find out about my books, click on Ellen's Books below. 

I was born in Washington, D.C. but moved as a baby to New Jersey, where I grew up. As a child, I loved to dance and wanted to be dancer. I danced everywhere—around the house, down the sidewalk, even in the grocery store!

I also loved to read, and when I wasn’t dancing I had my nose in a book. Luckily, there was a public library one block away from my house, and I spent hours there. My favorite books were The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Enormous Egg by Oliver Butterworth, and all the Nancy Drew books.

 In 1972, I moved with my husband, Bill, to Canada. Now Bill and I live in Burnaby, British Columbia, with our dog, Maggie, a Brittany Spaniel. We have two grown daughters, Merri and Amy.

 Before I became a writer, I was a school teacher. I taught children with learning disabilities and also primary grades. But something made me want to write. I wrote my first story in 1980. Adventure in Entropia is an educational story that I wrote for the British Columbia government to help kids learn about energy conservation.

 I was hooked! After that, I started writing fiction stories and published my first book, Dusty, in 1983. Since then, I’ve published six more books for kids and one for adults. Since then, I’ve published 11 more books for kids and one for adults.

 I also write magazine articles, which allow me to meet fascinating people. I’ve written about children’s author/illustrator Jan Brett, goaltender Ken Dryden, wheelchair athlete Rick Hansen, author Bill Richardson and Betty Fox, mother of Canadian hero Terry Fox. Once I wrote about a man who trains wild animals such as bears and cheetahs for the movies!

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