Shelley Tanaka is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

editor of numerous

young adult novels Young adult literature (YA) is typically written for readers aged 12 to 18 and includes most of the themes found in adult fiction, such as family dysfunction, substance abuse, alcoholism, and sexuality. It is characterized by simpler world build ...

, an author of non-fiction for children, a translator, and a writing teacher.

Biography

Shelley Tanaka was born in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Canada. She received an Honours bachelor's degree in English and German from Queen's University, and a master's degree in Comparative Literature from the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

. She lives in

Ontario, Canada Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

. Tanaka began her editing career at Clarke Irwin. She has been the fiction editor at

Groundwood Books House of Anansi Press is a Canadian publishing company, founded in 1967 by writers Dennis Lee and Dave Godfrey. The company specializes in finding and developing new Canadian writers of literary fiction, poetry, and non-fiction. History Anansi ...

, a Canadian children's book publisher, since 1983 and has edited books by many Canadian writers, including

Tim Wynne-Jones Tim Wynne-Jones, (born 12 August 1948) is an English–Canadian author of children's literature, including picture books and novels for children and young adults, novels for adults, radio dramas, songs for the CBC/Jim Henson production ''Fraggl ...

Deborah Ellis Deborah Ellis (born August 7, 1960) is a Canadian fiction writer and activist. Her themes are often concerned with the sufferings of persecuted children in the Third World. Early life Born in Cochrane Ontario, Ellis and her family moved several ...

, Martha Brooks, Sarah Ellis and Alan Cumyn. She is the editor of thirteen

Governor General's Award The Governor General's Awards are a collection of annual awards presented by the governor general of Canada, recognizing distinction in numerous academic, artistic, and social fields. The first award was conceived and inaugurated in 1937 by the ...

winning books. Shelley Tanaka writes

nonfiction Non-fiction (or nonfiction) is any document or media content that attempts, in good faith, to convey information only about the real world, rather than being grounded in imagination. Non-fiction typically aims to present topics objectively ...

for children, including books in the ''I Was There'' series and ''A Day That Changed America'' series. She has won numerous awards for her writing, among them the

Orbis Pictus Award The Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children recognizes books which demonstrate excellence in the "writing of nonfiction for children." It is awarded annually by the National Council of Teachers of English to one American book p ...

in 2009. Her books have been translated into several languages: German, Danish, Spanish, French, Japanese, Portuguese and Thai. Additionally, she has translated many children's picture books and novels from German and French into English. Tanaka teaches in the MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults program at

Vermont College of Fine Arts Vermont College of Fine Arts (VCFA) is a private graduate-level college affiliated with California Institute of the Arts. It offers Master's degrees in a low-residency format. Its faculty includes Pulitzer Prize finalists, National Book Award wi ...

Awards

*''

Amelia Earhart Amelia Mary Earhart ( ; July 24, 1897 – January 5, 1939) was an American aviation pioneer. On July 2, 1937, she disappeared over the Pacific Ocean while attempting to become the first female pilot to circumnavigate the world. During her li ...

: The Legend of the Lost Aviator'' won the

in 2009. * Translation of ''Good for Nothing'' by Michel Noël was on the IBBY Honour List for translation in 2006. *''Secrets of the Mummies'' won the Science in Society Children's Book Award in 2000. *''Discovering the Iceman'' won the Mr. Christie's Book Award in 1997. *''On Board the

Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British ocean liner that sank in the early hours of 15 April 1912 as a result of striking an iceberg on her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United States. Of the estimated 2,224 passengers a ...

'' won the Silver Birch Award in 1997. *''The Buried City of Pompei'' won the Information Book Award in 1997. *''On Board the Titanic'' won the Information Book Award in 1996. *''On Board the Titanic'' and ''The Buried City of Pompeii'' were finalists for the

Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis The (German Youth Literature Award) is an annual award established in 1956 by the Federal Ministry of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth to recognise outstanding works of children's and young adult literature. It is Germany's only ...

Bibliography

Novels

*''Nobody Knows'', Novelization of the Japanese film by

Hirokazu Kore-eda is a Japanese film director, producer, screenwriter, and editor. He began his career in television and has since directed more than a dozen feature films, including '' Nobody Knows'' (2004), '' Still Walking'' (2008), and '' After the Storm'' ( ...

(2012)

Historical events

*''

Earthquake An earthquakealso called a quake, tremor, or tembloris the shaking of the Earth's surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those so weak they ...

!'' (2004) *'' Gettysburg'' (2003) *''

D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during the Second World War. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...

'' (2003) *''The

Alamo The Battle of the Alamo (February 23 – March 6, 1836) was a pivotal event and military engagement in the Texas Revolution. Following a 13-day siege, Mexican troops under President General Antonio López de Santa Anna reclaimed the Alam ...

'' (2003) *''

Attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Empire of Japan on the United States Pacific Fleet at Naval Station Pearl Harbor, its naval base at Pearl Harbor on Oahu, Territory of ...

'' (2001) *''Lost Temple of the

Aztecs The Aztecs ( ) were a Mesoamerican civilization that flourished in central Mexico in the post-classic period from 1300 to 1521. The Aztec people included different ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the ...

'' (1998) *''The Buried City of

Pompeii Pompeii ( ; ) was a city in what is now the municipality of Pompei, near Naples, in the Campania region of Italy. Along with Herculaneum, Stabiae, and Villa Boscoreale, many surrounding villas, the city was buried under of volcanic ash and p ...

'' (1996) *''On Board the

'' (1996) *''The Disaster of the Hindenburg'' (1993

Biographies

*''

: The Legend of the Lost Aviator'' (2008) *''In the Time of

Knights A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

'' (2000) *''One More Border: The True Story of One Family’s Escape from War-Torn Europe'', co-written with

William Kaplan William Kaplan (born 24 May 1957) is a Canadian lawyer, arbitrator, emeritus professor of law and author. He is a recipient of the ''Law Society Medal'' from the Law Society of Upper Canada (1999) for his contributions to the legal profession a ...

(1998)

Arts

*''Footnotes: Dancing the World's Best-Loved

Ballets Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

'', co-written with

Frank Augustyn Frank Joseph Augustyn, (born January 27, 1953) is a Canadian ballet dancer and artistic director. He was principal dancer of the National Ballet of Canada and the Berlin Opera Ballet. Background Frank Augustyn was born in Hamilton, Ontario. As ...

(2001)

Environment

*''

Climate Climate is the long-term weather pattern in a region, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteoro ...

Change'' (2006) *''A Great Round Wonder: My Book of the World'' (1991) *''The Heat Is On: Facing Our Energy Problem'' (1991)

Archaeology

*''

Mummies A mummy is a dead human or an animal whose soft tissues and Organ (biology), organs have been preserved by either intentional or accidental exposure to Chemical substance, chemicals, extreme cold, very low humidity, or lack of air, so that the ...

: The Newest, Coolest & Creepiest from Around the World'' (2005) *''New Dinos'' (2003) *''Secrets of the

'' (1999) *''Graveyards of the

Dinosaurs Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic Geological period, period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the #Evolutio ...

'' (1998) *''Discovering the Iceman'' (1996)

Fiction

* "Ghost Town" a short story in ''Dear Canada – Hoping for Home: Stories of Arrival'' (2011)

Earlier works

*''

Anne of Green Gables ''Anne of Green Gables'' is a 1908 novel by Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery (published as L. M. Montgomery). Written for all ages, it has been considered a classic children's novel since the mid-20th century. Set in the late 19th century, t ...

'' by L. M. Montgomery, adapted for young readers (1998) *''The Illustrated Father Goose'' (1995) *''Mr. Dressup's Birthday Party Book'' (1988) *''Mr. Dressup's 50 More Things to Make and Do'', written with

Ernie Coombs Ernest Arthur Coombs, CM (November 26, 1927 – September 18, 2001) was an American-Canadian children's entertainer who starred in the Canadian television series '' Mr. Dressup'' (1967–1996). His career began as an assistant puppeteer to F ...

(1984, 1991) *''Mr. Dressup's Things to Make and Do'', written with Ernie Coombs (1982, 1991) *''Michi's New Year'' (1980)

Books translated into English by Shelley Tanaka

;French * ''The Birthday Party'' by Michel Aubin (1987) * ''The Secret Code'' by Michel Aubin (1987) * ''Himalaya'' by Tenzing Norbu Lama (2002) * ''Secret of the

Snow Leopard The snow leopard (''Panthera uncia'') is a species of large cat in the genus ''Panthera'' of the family Felidae. The species is native to the mountain ranges of Central and South Asia. It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List because ...

'' by Tenzing Norbu Lama (2004) * ''Good for Nothing'' by Michel Nöel (2004) * ''Broken Memory'' by Élisabeth Combres (2009) * ''Grandfather and the Moon'' by

Stéphanie Lapointe Stéphanie Lapointe (born 26 March 1984) is a Canadian singer, songwriter, actress and humanitarian activist from Quebec. She is best known as the winner of the second season of ''Star Académie''. Background Musical and acting development Lap ...

(2017) ;German * ''The Fire: An Ethiopian Folk Tale'' by Heinz Janisch (Groundwood Books, 2002) * ''True Friends: Tales from

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

'' by John Kilaka (Groundwood, 2006), picture book * ''Girl from Mars'' by Tamara Bach (Groundwood, 2009) * ''Definitely Not for Little Ones: Some Very Grimm Fairy Tale Comics'' by Rotraut Susanne Berner (Groundwood, 2009) * ''Hound and Hare'' by Rotraut Susannne Berner (Groundwood, 2011)

References

Interviews

*Ward, Barbara A. and Terrell A. Young. "Talking with Shelley Tanaka." ''Booklist Online''. 2 June 2009

Additional resources

Canadian Children's Book Centre.
''The Storymakers: Writing Children’s Books''. Pembroke. 2000. *Gertridge, Allison. ''Meet Canadian Authors and Illustrators''. Scholastic Canada. Revised edition 2002. *Rockman, Connie C., editor. ''Ninth Book of Junior Authors & Illustrators''. New York: H.W. Wilson. 2004. .

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tanaka, Shelley Living people Children's non-fiction writers Canadian children's writers Canadian women children's writers Canadian book editors Canadian women editors 20th-century Canadian biographers 21st-century Canadian translators French–English translators German–English translators Queen's University at Kingston alumni Writers from Toronto Canadian women non-fiction writers Year of birth missing (living people) Canadian women biographers 20th-century Canadian women writers 21st-century Canadian biographers 21st-century Canadian women writers