Pokeweed special author information

Editor Frank B. Edwards and illustrator John Bianchi (shown together in a 1993 photograph) met in the early 1980s at Harrowsmith magazine, a popular back-to-the-land magazine published in rural Ontario near Kingston. In 1986, the pair decided to produce their first children's book — The Bungalo Boys, Last of the Tree Ranchers. Because they could find no publisher willing to publish it, they started their own company, Bungalo Books (which eventually became Pokeweed Press in 1999).

Together, the friends created 38 children's books and sold close to two million copies during their heyday in the 1990s when they worked on the books full time. John and Frank specialized in books for children up to grade six, including picture books, novels and non-fiction. Both creators continue to travel across North America visiting schools and talking about their love of reading and writing to students, staff and parents.

They still work together on various projects — particularly on a series of e-books that will make Pokeweed titles more easily accessible over the internet.

Today John lives in Tucson, Arizona with his wife Margaret. He has two adult daughters and a couple of dogs and spends much of his time painting landscapes, illustrating and working on graphic websites. He is an avid hiker and cyclist. Visit his website at www.johnbianchi.com.

Frank usually lives beside a chain of lakes north of Kingston, Ontario and has three adult children and several kayaks but these days he resides in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam. He moved there in October 2016 to join his partner Sigrid who has a two year contract overseeing the ESL program at the Bilingual Canadian International School in HCMC.

His latest book was a biography of children's author Robert Munsch which was nominated for the Ontario Library Association's Silver Birch award. Much of his current work involves educational and outreach consulting for museums and other institutions. Visit his website at www.HedgehogProductions.com.

This special sale is an effort to put these wonderful books into the hands of children where they belong.