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About the Author
Writing a book report or a full-fledged article? Feel free to use whichever length of bio suits your needs. (Skip to The Mini-Bio or The Full-Length Bio.)
The Micro-Bio
Tanya Lee Stone studied English at Oberlin College and was an editor of children's nonfiction for many years. She also has a Masters Degree. She teaches writing at Champlain College.
After many years as an editor, Tanya moved to Vermont and returned to writing. This award-winning author has written titles that include the young adult novel, A Bad Boy Can Be Good for a Girl (Wendy Lamb/Random House), Up Close: Ella Fitzgerald (Viking), picture books Elizabeth Leads the Way (Holt 2008), Sandy's Circus (Viking 2008), and Who Says Women Can't Be Doctors? (Holt 2013) and narrative nonfiction Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream (Candlewick 2009), The Good, the Bad, and the Barbie (Viking 2010), and Courage Has No Color (Candlewick 2013). A new picture book about Jane Addams called The House that Jane Built (Holt 2014) is forthcoming.
The Mini-Bio
Tanya Lee Stone grew up in a house of books. She studied English at Oberlin College (and Music at Oberlin Conservatory.). After graduation she moved to New York to be an editor.
Stone was an editor of children's nonfiction for many years. During some of those years, she also earned a Masters Degree. But when she got her chance to write her first book, she was hooked. This award-winning author has written nearly 100 books for young readers. Her titles include the young adult novel, A Bad Boy Can Be Good for a Girl (Wendy Lamb/Random House), Up Close: Ella Fitzgerald (Viking), picture books Elizabeth Leads the Way (Holt 08), Sandy's Circus (Viking 08), and Who Says Women Can't Be Doctors? (Holt 2013) and narrative nonfiction Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream (Candlewick 09), The Good, the Bad, and the Barbie (Viking 2010) and Courage Has No Color (Candlewick). A new picture book about Jane Addams called The House that Jane Built (Holt 2014) is forthcoming.
Tanya blogs over at (live journal) and has a Facebook page. She is also a monthly contributor to INK (Interesting Nonfiction for Kids). She teaches writing at Champlain College.
The Full-Length Bio
Like many writers, Tanya Lee Stone has been making up stories since she was a kid. But her first series, Henry the Happy House, was never sold. She even drew the (horrible) illustrations to go with it. It's a mystery why nobody wanted to publish it! As a high schooler, Tanya went to performing arts high school as a music major. Her writing improved when she studied English at Oberlin College (and Music at Oberlin Conservatory). After graduation she moved to New York to be an editor.
Stone was an editor of children's books for many years. During some of those years, she also earned a Masters Degree in Science Education and learned all about seals and sea lions. (If you ask, she might tell you about the time she climbed into a harbor seal tank with high rubber boots to give the seals their shots). She has also traveled all over the world, hopping with kangaroos in Australia, eating the best caviar ever in Russia, and living in England for awhile where she studied British literature. When Stone moved to Vermont and got her chance to write her first book, she got hooked on stories all over again.
This award-winning author has written nearly 100 books for young readers. She has written books about animals, nature, science, history, and biography. She also writes poetry and fiction. Stone's first young adult novel, A Bad Boy Can Be Good for a Girl (Wendy Lamb/Random House) received starred reviews, as well as honors from the New York Public Library, Texas Tayshas State Reading List, School Library Journal, the ALA, Maryland Best Books, and the Kentucky Bluegrass Master Award List. Award-winning picture books include Elizabeth Leads the Way (Holt), Sandy's Circus (Viking), and Who Says Women Can't Be Doctors?! (Holt). She has a picture book coming out in 2014 about Jane Addams called The House That Jane Built (Holt). Her Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream won an NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor, Jane Addams Honor, YALSA Nonfiction Finalist, Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor, the Bank Street Flora Straus Steiglitz Award, and the Robert F. Sibert Medal. The Good, the Bad, and the Barbie won SCBWI's Golden Kite Award. Many of the stories she now finds herself drawn to deal with themes of strong women and empowering girls, or little-known episodes in American history.
Stone is a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, the Authors Guild, PEN American Center, ALAN (The Assembly on Literature for Adolescents), and the National Council Against Censorship. She has been a featured speaker at the Texas Book Festival, the New England Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, the Rochester Book Festival, the Connecticut Reading Association, the Vermont League of Writers, National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), the International Reading Association (IRA), the American Library Association (ALA), as well as multiple schools and libraries. She is the Co-director of Kindling Words, an annual retreat for published children's book authors and illustrators. Stone also writes articles and reviews and has been published in VOYA, School Library Journal, Horn Book, and the New York Times. She teaches writing at Champlain College and has two fabulous kids.
You can find the author blogging over at (live journal and Facebook). She is also a monthly contributor to INK (Interesting Nonfiction for Kids).
Want to know more? Okay, it's a little-known fact that:
- Tanya has a passion for Sour Starburst Jellybeans.
- And chocolate-covered pretzels.
- And chocolate salted caramels.
- Francis Crick once slept in her bed (she was not in it at the time).
- Mandy Patinkin once showed her his Inigo Montoya sword.
- She hates the word "tasty." Don't say it, especially when out to dinner with her. Appetite-gone.
- Like Aviva in BAD BOY, Tanya was a Criss-Crosser in high school. She likes to think it's because she was irresistibly popular, but really it was because she spent half the time at MHS and half the time at performing arts high school--so nobody had time to get sick of her!
- One of her favorite sounds is an orchestra warming up before a show.
- She likes winter because she gets to wear her favorite purple (faux) leopard coat. Well, duh! Who ever heard of a purple leopard!