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
lives beside a chain of lakes north of Kingston, Ontario and has three
adult children and several kayaks. 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.
