Shelley Tanaka facts for kids

Shelley Tanaka is a Canadian writer, editor, and teacher. She is known for editing many young adult novels and writing non-fiction books for children. She also translates books and teaches writing.

About Shelley Tanaka

Early Life and Education

Shelley Tanaka was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. She studied English and German at Queen's University. She also earned a master's degree from the University of Toronto. Today, she lives in Ontario, Canada.

Her Work as an Editor

Shelley Tanaka started her career in editing at a company called Clarke Irwin. Since 1983, she has been the fiction editor at Groundwood Books. This is a Canadian company that publishes books for children.

She has helped many Canadian writers with their books. Some of these writers include Tim Wynne-Jones, Deborah Ellis, and Sarah Ellis. Shelley Tanaka has edited thirteen books that have won the Governor General's Awards. This is a very important award in Canada.

Her Work as a Writer

Shelley Tanaka also writes non-fiction books for children. Non-fiction means the books are about real facts and events. She has written books in popular series like I Was There and A Day That Changed America.

Her books have won many awards, including the Orbis Pictus Award in 2009. Her stories have been translated into many languages around the world. These include German, Spanish, and Japanese.

Her Work as a Translator

Besides writing her own books, Shelley Tanaka also translates books. She changes books written in German and French into English. Many of these are children's picture books and novels.

Teaching Writing

Shelley Tanaka also teaches writing. She works with students in a special program at Vermont College of Fine Arts. This program helps people learn how to write books for children and young adults.

Awards and Recognition

Shelley Tanaka has won many awards for her writing and translations. These awards show how important and well-loved her books are:

• Amelia Earhart: The Legend of the Lost Aviator won the Orbis Pictus Award in 2009. This award is for outstanding non-fiction for children.
• Her translation of Good for Nothing by Michel Noël was honored by IBBY in 2006. This means it was recognized as an excellent translation.
• 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 won the Silver Birch Award in 1997.
• The Buried City of Pompei won the Information Book Award in 1997.
• On Board the Titanic also won the Information Book Award in 1996.
• Both On Board the Titanic and The Buried City of Pompeii were finalists for the Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis. This is a major German youth literature prize.