With almost thirty years experience as an English professor at the University of Winnipeg, Perry Nodelman is widely recognized as one of Canada's leading authorities on children's literature. Aptly described as an "academic children's literature specialist" by Toronto Globe and Mail book reviewer Elizabeth MacCallum, Nodelman is a successful educator, researcher, writer, editor, and conference speaker. Not content to rest on these laurels, however, Nodelman continues to expand his horizons. Most recently, he has joined the ranks of Canadian authors writing for young people.

The idea for Nodelman's first book for young people came to him while he was reading Katharine Briggs's Dictionary of Fairies, Brownies, Bogies, and Other Supernatural Creatures, and thought about how different the fairies in it were from the sentimental fairies of greeting cards and many children's books. "As I read it," Nodelman told Groundwood Books in a publicity release, "I was astonished at...