Bio
Born in Ajax, Ontario, Sylvia McNicoll grew up in Montreal, Quebec and graduated from Concordia university. Her first book, Blueberries and Whipped Cream, was written as a project for a writing course given by Paul Kropp at Sheridan College where she later taught creative writing for nine years. That book sold film options as well as foreign rights to Australia and later in an updated version to Germany, Sweden, and Norway. She went on to write many books for both junior and intermediate students. Perhaps, best known, is her Beauty Series, a set of three novels about Elizabeth fostering future guide dogs, the first of which, Bringing Up Beauty won the 1996 Silver Birch Award.
Today Sylvia has over 28 books for young people, published in six different languages, as well as many short stories and articles. Most of her work goes directly to Norway to be translated into Norwegian, Swedish and Finnish. Sylvia McNicoll also works as the Features Editor of Today’s Parent Toronto. Beyond writing, she enjoys the arts education component of her career, visiting classrooms and libraries to teach and inspire reading and writing excitement. Besides reading, Sylvia loves hiking with her Jackapoo Mortie, bicycling, crosscountry skiing and hanging out with her four grandchildren.
