Susanna Reich has driven big trucks, designed flowers in honor of the Emperor and Empress of Japan, and done graduate work in ancient Hawaiian hula. She has also written articles on dance and floral design for national magazines and scholarly journals. But none of these was as much fun as writing books for children, which she has been doing since 1994.

Susanna's first book, Clara Schumann: Piano Virtuoso (Clarion, 1999), won an Orbis Pictus Honor from the National Council of Teachers of English, and was an ALA Notable and Best Book for Young Adults, and a School Library Journal Best Book of the Year, among other honors.

After Clara, Susanna returned to her first love - dance - to pen Jose! Born to Dance: The Story of José Limón, a picture book biography for kids ages 5-9, illustrated by Raúl Colón (Paula Wiseman Books/Simon & Schuster, 2005).

She has since turned her hand to fiction. In the historical novel Penelope Bailey Takes the Stage (Marshall Cavendish, 2006), a girl who longs to be an actress is thwarted by her family's rigid Victorian ideas about appropriate behavior for young ladies. Penelope is inspired to follow her dream by Isabelle Grey, a character based on the famous dancer Isadora Duncan.

Isadora Duncan at the Portal of the Parthenon, Athens, 1920. Photo by Edward Steichen

Susanna Reich at the Portal of the Parthenon, Athens, 1971. Photo by Haskell Reich

A former professional dancer herself, Susanna studied at the Royal Academy of Dancing in London and the American Ballet Theatre School in New York. She holds a B.F.A. in dance from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts and a Certificate in Movement Analysis from the Laban/Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies.

Since 2000, Susanna has also worked as a children's book publicist for Raab Associates, representing such clients as National Geographic, Kids Can Press, Kane/Miller, and Frances Lincoln, as well as authors Avi, Robie Harris, Jane Yolen, and Ed Young. A long-time member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, she serves on the Steering Committee of the Metro New York chapter. Susanna enjoys visiting schools, and offers workshops and lectures for adults, as well.

A native New Yorker, Susanna grew up in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, and has also lived in the San Francisco Bay area. She now makes her home in New York's Hudson Valley with her husband, the artist and writer Gary Golio; their daughter; two cats; and a fire-bellied toad.