Pamela Turner could not stop reading and drawing as a child. From being scolded for reading at the dinner table to going through sketchbooks so fast that her mother had to buy her rolls of shelf paper to use as canvas, Pamela was consumed with creating and learning. Even at night, when forced to turn her lights off for bed, Pamela would read by the small red light emanating from the temperature control for her electric blanket. It’s no wonder that Pamela eventually became a celebrated children’s author.

Yet before becoming a writer, Pamela was a legislative assistant for foreign affairs for a California congressman, and after receiving a Master's in Public Health from UC Berkeley became an international health consultant. She and her husband, whom she met while studying abroad in Kenya, have lived all over the world, and have three children each born in a different country. Upon returning to the United States, Pamela decided to finally follow her childhood dream of becoming a children’s writer.

She is the author of many award-winning books, including Samurai Rising, a YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction Award finalist, as well as Crow Smarts and The Frog Scientist, both winners of the AAAS/Subaru SB&F Prize for Excellence in Science Books. Her book, How To Build a Human (In Seven Evolutionary Steps), tackles the origin of Homo sapiens with wit and clarity.

Pamela divides her time between Oakland, California, Newberg, Oregon, and Tokyo, Japan.

Download a photo of Pamela S. Turner.

Books by Pamela S. Turner