Penny Colman is the author of a number of popular nonfiction books, including biographies of famous and not-so-famous women of history. She also writes kid-winning social histories such as Toilets, Bathtubs, Sinks, and Sewers: A History of the Bathroom and Corpses, Coffins, and Crypts: A History of Burial. Reviewing the latter title, Booklist's Stephanie Zvirin asserted that "Colman's approach to her subject is worlds away from dry textbook tradition." Indeed, Colman is noted for her page-turning nonfiction style. "I write in the tradition of creative nonfiction," wrote Colman in her essay, "Nonfiction Is Literature Too," which appeared in the New Advocate.

Colman once explained: "I grew up in a noisy family. Very noisy. My three brothers and I were close in age, and we were always into something--backyard baseball games; canoeing, swimming, and fishing in the creek that ran behind our house; and fighting with each other...