Joanne Schwartz grew up in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. Her first picture book <i>Our Corner Grocery Store</i>, illustrated by Laura Beingessner, was a Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award Finalist. Her recent picture book <i>Town is by the Sea</i>, illustrated by Sydney Smith, won the the TD Canadian Children's Literature Award, was a Governor General's Literary Award nominee and a Boston-Globe Horn Book Honoree. Joanne has been a children's librarian for more than thirty years. She lives in Toronto.