Elizabeth A. McKenzie

Elizabeth A. McKenzie was born and raised in Vermont. Her childhood, being in a rural area in the 1970s and 80s, with little access to formal entertainment and no cable TV, encouraged her to play in the woods and by a stream near her house, build forts from old branches and to pretend that an old, moss-covered pile of bricks she found was a witch's house. She was also an avid reader and still has hundreds of her favorite childhood books that have been read and re-read, dozens of times.

Authors and characters who inspired her:

Beverly Cleary (Ramona Quimby)

Mary Norton (The Borrowers)

Roald Dahl (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach)

Ruth Chew

Lois Duncan

Lois Lowry

Laura Ingalls Wilder (The Little House Series)