Margaret Mahy (pronounced MARhee), New Zealand's most acclaimed writer for children, was born March 21, 1936, in the small town of Whakatane, New Zealand. The oldest of five children of a bridge builder/building contractor and a teacher, Mahy has been involved with books since childhood. She remembers that her mother read the children English classics including the works of Charles Dickens, Beatrix Potter, and A. A. Milne and her father read them Rider Haggard, Marryat, and Ballantyne.

From the age of seven she published poems and wrote stories.

Educated at the University of Auckland, Mahy received a B.A. in 1957 and a Diploma of Librarianship in 1958.

From 1958-1959 she was assistant librarian at the Petone Public Library, and she was librarian, School Library Service, Christchurch 1967-1976. After serving as children's librarian at Canterbury Public Library, Christchurch, from 1976-1980, she was writer in residence at Canterbury...