Johanna Hurwitz is a former children’s librarian and the award-winning author of more than sixty books for children, including four books about Arlene and Ilene’s friend Monty, who lives on their street. Johanna Hurwitz divides her time between Great Neck, New York, and Wilmington, Vermont.
Tuesday Mourning is the illustrator of numerous chapter-book covers and is currently working on picture books. This is her first book with Candlewick Press. She lives in Utah.
Johanna Hurwitz has been writing children’s books since she was eight years old. However, it took until she was thirty-eight for her first book to be published. Since then she has published regularly. “It’s not a contest to see who can write the most,” she insists. One of her favorite children’s authors is E. B.White, and Johanna’s parents read Stuart Little to her when she was very young. “He only wrote three children’s books but each is a gem. It would be wonderful if half a century from now children are still enjoying some of my books.”
Before she became a published author, Johanna got a master’s degree in library science and worked as a children’s librarian at the New York Public Library and at several other libraries. She is married and has two grown children and three grandchildren. Many of her stories grew out of experiences that she or family members actually had. In her book Mighty Monty, she describes Monty’s karate class. Her grandson, Ethan, and granddaughter Juliet have both taken karate lessons. Before long granddaghter Fiona will inspire some ideas too.
The biggest thing that most people don’t know about Johanna Hurwitz is that her parents met in a bookstore. No wonder she loves books so much. Other suprising details about Johanna are that she adores elephants and Babar is one of her very favorite story-book characters. Johanna enjoys traveling, and her goal is to speak in all fifty states. So far she has been to forty-four. If you live in Utah, Montana, Oklahoma, Hawaii, Idaho, or Delaware, she’d love to go there too. (Hint, hint)
