Dr Stephanie Owen Reeder (BA Hons, Dip.Ed, Grad.Dip.Lib, MEd, PhD) is a Canberra-based writer, illustrator, editor and reviewer. Stephanie writes and illustrates children’s books, as well as reviewing children’s picture books and writing about children’s literature.  As well as writing, Stephanie edits a range of publications. 

Childhood: Born in August 1951 in Sydney to Frank and Margo Baker, Stephanie grew up in the Northern Beaches area of Sydney. She is the eldest of four children. In many ways she had an idyllic childhood playing in the bush and at the beach, but her favourite pastimes were reading, drawing and writing. She wrote and illustrated her first ‘book’ at seven. In her early years her parents moved house a lot, and so Stephanie attended six primary schools, including three in one year; however, they stayed in Avalon during her high school years at Pittwater High. She is thankful for the inspirational teachers at Avalon Primary and Pittwater High who encouraged her to write.

 University and Career: Stephanie attended Sydney University in the early 1970s, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts, with a major in History and honours in Indonesian and Malayan Studies. She then did a Diploma in Education, achieving a Distinguished Academic Record and the Cheshire Publishing Prize for History. She went on to teach English, history and languages at secondary schools in Sydney, before moving to Canberra in 1975 after the birth of twins. Her honours thesis morphed into an assignment for a course on children’s literature as part of a Graduate Diploma in Librarianship at the Canberra College of Advanced Education, and it was later published by Random House as the picture book The Flaming Witch (1997), with stunning watercolour illustrations by Indonesian artist Dadang Christanto. After the birth of her third child, Stephanie  tutored at university in children’s literature and librarianship while completing a Masters Degree in Education. She then returned to full-time work. After a short stint as a librarian at the National Library of Australia, she became a Hansard editor at Federal Parliament, where she worked for nearly 25 years.

While working full-time at Hansard, Stephanie had a number of short stories and articles published, won two writing competitions (the Manning Clark Footnotes to History Essay Competition and the Australian Book Review Reviewing Competition), edited a wide range of books and journals, was the Editor of the Children’s Book Council of Australia’s journal Reading Time, reviewed books for a range of publications, studied Fine Art at the Australian National University, and did a PhD in Communication at the University of Canberra. Her thesis was on visual literacy and the evaluation of visual narrative in Australian children’s picture books.

Writing: Since retiring from Hansard, Stephanie has worked as a freelance editor, writer and reviewer. She also writes and illustrates books for children. In 2008, the National Library of Australia published two of her books:  My Reading Journal and Colour My World! In 2009, Lost! A True Tale from the Bush was published by the National Library, and it was shortlisted for the Eve Pownall Award for Information Books in the Children’s Book Council of Australia’s Book of the Year Awards 2010. Stephanie continues to review children’s books for The Canberra Times and Australian Book Review, and write and edit books for the National Library of Australia. Her picture book, I’ve Got a Feeling! - a lift-the-flap book about emotions for preschoolers - has been included in the prestigious internaitonal booklist IBBY Outstanding Books for Young People with Disabilities 2011, and it will be in an exhibition travelling around the world. The board book version for babies, Feeling Fine!, is also available. Stephanie’s latest historical novel for children, Amazing Grace: An Adventure at Sea, which retells the story of Grace Bussell and her role in helping to save people from the shipwreck of the Georgette in 1876, is now available, as is her latest book for adults, The Vision Splendid (National Library of Australia). This sumptuous coffee-table-style book showcases the remarkable 19th century sketchbooks held in the National Library and the artists who produced them.

Stephanie lives in Canberra, is married to John Hession, and is the very proud and totally besotted grandmother of Kai and Lucien, who will no doubt inspire many more books for children!

Read more about Stephanie and her books in the latest issue of Magpies: Talking About Books for Children (Volume 26, Number 5, November 2011), which features a comprehensive interview with Stephanie and a review of Amazing Grace.