ABOUT ME | deborahkerbel

Hello, and welcome!

My name's Deborah Kerbel (my friends call me Deb) and I'm the author of 29 books for young readers of all ages. I live and write in Thornhill, Ontario (just north of Toronto) with my husband, two kids, and a rescue schnoodle named Freddie.

Want to know a little bit more?

I was born waaaaay back in the 1970's. That year in the news, the Beatles had just broken up, 'Stairway to Heaven' was fresh on the radio, and Walt Disney World was opening its doors for the very first time. My family was living in London, England where my father was working as a foreign correspondent. We moved to Canada when I was two years old (alas, no posh British accent for me), lived in Montreal for a year before settling down in Toronto for the rest of my childhood.

All this means that I grew up in a time before cell phones, bike helmets, Instagram, and Netflix. Clothes were ugly (soooo ugly), disco was hot, computers were primitive, and kids ran around unsupervised until the street lights came on. It was an awesome time to be young.

Growing up, reading was always my favourite pastime and visits to my local library were the highlight of my week. In 1993, I graduated from Western University in London, Ontario with a degree in English Literature. A few years later, I started writing books of my own. I'm the proud author of six middle grade novels, four young adult novels, one graphic novel, and seventeen picture books...with six more coming out soon.

My books have led exciting literary lives -- shortlisted for many awards including the Governor General's Literary Award, the Forest of Reading Silver Birch Fiction Award, the Canadian Library Association's YA Book Award, the Manitoba Young Reader's Choice Award, the Rocky Mountain Book Award, and the Diamond Willow Book Award, among many others. My graphic novel, Fred & Marjorie; a Doctor, a Dog, and the Discovery of Insulin was the winner of the 2023 Forest of Reading Yellow Cedar Award and the 2023 Red Cedar Book Award. My picture book, Sun Dog, was the winner of the 2019 IODE Jean Throop Book Award the 2019 Forest of Reading Blue Spruce Honour Book.

My books have taken me on many great adventures -- to schools, libraries, fairs, conferences and festivals across Canada, including Wordfest, Word on the Street, Festival of Trees, Packaging Your Imagination, Telling Tales, Eden Mills Writers' Festival, and Luminato. They've also given me the privilege to act as judge and juror for provincial book awards and national youth writing competitions.

Still with me? Congrats! You've earned 11 top-secret, little-known facts about this author:

I was born in a police station. And not just any police station - I was born in the largest operational police station (or having more-cells-than-any-other-police-station) in all of Europe. Surprised? Shocked? Charing Cross Hospital was a historic London landmark when I was born there, but was converted into Charing Cross Police Station just a couple of years later.

The first book I wrote (and illustrated) was for a Grade 2 assignment. It was called The Lonely Christmas Tree.
My favourite books growing up were the Wizard of Oz series of books and anything by Beverly Cleary, Judy Blume, and Gordon Korman.
My celebrity teen crush was Andrew Ridgeley from Wham! (if you’re thinking, who’s that? then you weren’t around in the 80’s).
I lost my last baby tooth in 2016 (too bad the tooth fairy had long-since misplaced my address).
My favourite foods are Pad Thai, Italian zucchini flowers, and lemon gelato.
Before becoming a full-time author, I held an eclectic mix of jobs in fashion and music retail, telemarketing, restaurant hostess-ing, financial writing, and pajama modelling.
My biggest phobia is raw tomatoes (**shudder**).
My favourite season is fall (because cozy turtlenecks, crispy air and crunchy leaves...)
My favourite writing snack is a piping-hot cup of tea.
My favourite pastime is still reading!