Author tony johnston biography

Tony Johnston grew up in San Marino, California. After graduating from Stanford University, where she earned a B.A. degree in history and an M.A. in education, she stayed in California to teach elementary school.

After writing stories for her fourth-grade students, and following a fellow teacher's suggestion, she decided to try to have them published.

It was an intriguing idea to write for children professionally; but Tony soon discovered what a challenge it was to create simple stories. So she set herself a course of intense self-education about children's books and what makes them work.

Johnston's "education" received a big boost when her husband's banking job brought them to New York in the late 1960's.

This gave Tony the opportunity to gain firsthand knowledge about children's books by getting involved in children's publishing at a time when the field was booming. Her goal was to "saturate herself" in the industry, and she got her first chance as "slush" reader at Harper &