Kelly Starling Lyons began her journey to become a children's book author in her hometown of Pittsburgh. She learned the art of storytelling from her mom who took her to productions at a children's theater, wrote plays and made up bedtime tales. Her grandparents, who showed their imagination through cooking and gardening, taught her to honor the magic of history and home. Surrounded by creativity, Lyons began to write. She curled up near the radiator behind her bedroom door and allowed her pen to take her to other worlds. A canopy of trees transformed into a make-believe fortress, backyards hid treasure and tunnels to faraway lands, bridges that crossed the Monongahela, Allegheny and Ohio rivers spanned distance and time.Now a children's book author, Lyons works to transform moments, memories and history into stories of discovery. Her books include chapter book, NEATE: Eddie's Ordeal; CCBC Choices-honored picture book One Million Men and Me; Ellen's Broom, a Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Award Book and Junior Library Guild and Bank Street Best selection; Tea Cakes for Tosh, a Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People and Phillis Wheatley Book Award winner and Hope's Gift, a 2013 winter/spring Okra Pick by SIBA (Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance).Find out more about Kelly at www.kellystarlinglyons.com.