K.V. JOHANSEN grew up in Westbrook, Ontario (near Kingston) and now lives in Sackville, NB. She studied English and History at Mount Allison University in Sackville, NB, and has a Master's in Medieval Studies from the Centre for Medieval Studies at the University of Toronto, as well as a second M.A. in English from McMaster.

Krista's books for children and teens include Torrie and the Firebird (Annick 2006 - a fantasy novel for kids age 7-13), The Cassandra Virus (Orca 2006 - a science fiction novel for ages 8-14), Torrie and the Pirate-Queen (Annick 2005), and Torrie and the Dragon (Roussan 1997). Pirate-Queen has also been published in translation in Denmark as S¿r¿verdronningen (Forlaget Thorup 2005). She's the author of the "Pippin and Mabel" picture books: Pippin Takes a Bath (Kids Can 1999), Pippin and the BonesPippin and Pudding (2001). The Pippin series is illustrated by Bernice Lum and published in French by ƒditions Scholastic as the "Coquine et Mabelle" series. Pippin and the Bones won a Lieutenant-Governor's Early Childhood Literacy Award. The Pippin books are inspired by her dog, the real Pippin, who hasn't found any Mastodon bones yet. She has also written a fantasy short story collection for adults and teens, The Serpent Bride: Stories From Medieval Danish Ballads (Thistledown 1998), full of dragons, trolls, shapeshifters, and other interesting things. Her forthcoming novels include Nightwalker (Orca Books 2007 - a fantasy novel for teens) and Torrie and the Snake Prince (Annick Press 2007).

In 2001 Krista held the Eileen Wallace Research Fellowship from the University of New Brunswick's Eileen Wallace Children's Literature Collection. Her research led to the critically praised book Quests and Kingdoms: A Grown-Up's Guide to Children's Fantasy (Sybertooth - 2005). She received the 2004 Frances E. Russell Award for research in children's literature from the Canadian section of IBBY, the International Board on Books for Young People. Her 2005 novel Torrie and the Pirate-Queen was the winner of the Canadian Authors Association 2006 Lilla Stirling Award, and was one of the nominated titles for the 2006 Silver Birch Award, as well as for the 2006 Diamond Willow Award.

Her website is at: www.pippin.ca