Biography

From childhood, Johanna Hurwitz knew she wanted to write. She grew up in New York City in a family of avid readers. She told her parents that she wanted to be a writer when she grew up - they said writing was fine but she should prepare for another career as well, in case she couldn't support herself. Taking that into consideration, Ms. Hurwitz turned to her childhood sanctuary - the library. As a child, she made regular trips to the library, checking out the maximum number of books each time (two fiction and two nonfiction). She was also part of a reading club for fifth- and sixth-grade girls, in which she often shared aloud some of her original stories. The library seemed a natural place for her to work so, after earning a BA from Queens College and a master's in library science from Columbia University, Ms. Hurwitz began her career as a children's librarian at The New York Public Library. After working at various other libraries and teaching some graduate courses, Ms. Hurwitz moved to Long Island with her husband, Uri, a college teacher and writer, and her two children, Nomi and Ben, where she continued her library work at the Great Neck Public Library.

When her children were well along in school, Ms. Hurwitz began writing down the original stories she had told them throughout their childhood. She'd been working in libraries for over a dozen years before she submitted her first manuscript, Busybody Nora, to a publisher. It took another four years - until 1976 - before it became a book on shelves across the country. Since then, she's seen over fifty of her books published.

For inspiration, Ms. Hurwitz uses her own family. "Although I mostly write fiction, my books are strongly influenced by real life, so my family can be found in many of my stories. In fact, sometimes my husband Uri gets confused and thinks the things I write are what really happened." She likes to focus on writing for and about seven- to nine-year olds because they are "so very open and get excited about small things." Because she is so busy writing, she no longer works as a librarian but she enjoys visiting schools and libraries all across the country where she meets new friends and brings home new ideas for her books. "As a writer, I am thrilled when a parent or teacher reports to me that one of my books 'turned on' a child or a class to reading. To do that is my ultimate goal."

Ms. Hurwitz has developed an award-winning series called the Park Pals Adventures, which includes Pee Wee's Tale, Lexi's Tale, Pee Wee and Plush, and Squirrel World coming in Fall 2007.