Sheldon Arensen

Shel Arensen was born in Tanganyika and raised in Kenya. After completing his high school education at Rift Valley Academy, Shel went to the US for higher education and earned a Master's Degree in magazine journalism. While in college, he met Kym, who became his wife in 1977. Shel and Kym moved to Kenya in 1981 and have lived there ever since, raising three sons and a daughter. Shel started writing children's adventure books for his own children in 1985. The first three titles for what became known as the Rugendo Rhino series appeared with Multnomah Books in 1995. Since then Shel has written a total of eleven books in the series. Aimed at children 8-12 years of age, the stories are set in East Africa and the fast-paced plots include authentic African settings peopled with poachers, kidnappers, smugglers, traditional hunters and more. Shel and Kym live on the edge of the Malewa River near Lake Naivasha in Kenya. Shel loves to snorkel and collect shells on the Swahili Coast - the setting for several of the books in the series - as well as hiking in Kenya's forested highlands visiting his Dorobo friends. Shel is also the editor of Old Africa, an East African history magazine.