About The Editor:

As the child of writers/journalists, I was always surrounded by books. The writing world was a natural habitat for me and I developed an abiding love for books and the written word.

  Travel has played a big role in my life from my childhood to the present day. My parents' lifestyles, and my adventures as an adult have afforded me the opportunity to visit many countries such as Jordan, Lebanon, Cyprus, Egypt, Syria, Morocco, Kenya, Pakistan, India, and parts of Europe. Each place and journey gave me rich experiences and memories which have widened my horizons. Books provide children with a wonderful means to make similar journeys to countries and places that lie far beyond their home shores.

  Other influences in my life have been the love of history that I inherited from my father, and my love of animals, which has taken me from studying elephants participating in the holy festivals in southern India, to working alongside the founder of the Jersey Wildlife Preservation Trust Zoo.

  Like many writers, I have also had the benefit of having had jobs of various kinds. After getting my degree in zoology from Oxford University, my work life took me through the positions of being a research assistant; the head of an education program; a desktop publisher for a children's book author/illustrator; a media coordinator and executive assistant to a vice president at the Center for Marine Conservation in Washington, D.C.; a sub-editor at the home desk and foreign news desk at the Irish Times in Dublin; a veterinary assistant at a veterinary hospital in Virginia; and an assistant zookeeper at the Jersey Wildlife Preservation Trust Zoo.

  I now live and work in Ashland, Oregon sharing my life with my husband, my daughter, two dogs and four cats.

  A few years ago I found myself becoming more and more involved in the children's book world and began reviewing books for Children's Literature, Kidsreads.com, and Midwest Book Review. In the autumn of 2002 I decided to strike out on my own and began my own online children's book review journal, Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Review. It has been an exciting and very rewarding process.

  As I have read so many children's books of all kinds, I find that I have a very clear idea of what does and what does not work when it come to children's literature. I now offer to share what I have learned with children's book authors who are need someone to look at and evaluate their work. You can see my reviewing work on the Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Review website.

Marya Jansen-Gruber:

•Has written articles on a range of topics for both adults and children.

•Has reviewed thousands of children's books of all genres.

•Has developed a very clear picture of what publishers do and do not like in a children's book.

•Can offer an author support and an honest assessment of his or her work.

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