Phoebe Gilman

Phoebe Gilman (April 4, 1940 – August 29, 2002) was a Canadian-American children's book author and illustrator. Her books were notable for their strong lead female characters. Her book Something from Nothing, adapted from an old Yiddish tale, won the 1993 Ruth Schwartz Award for best children's book, and was later adapted for television. Born in The Bronx, New York, where she lived her first years, she later lived in Europe, Israel, and finally settled in Canada in 1972.

Early life The second of three children, Phoebe Gilman was born to John and Hannah Gilman on April 4, 1940 in the Bronx. Her father was a textile worker originally and loved photography. Gilman cited her mother as the inspiration for her love of books, and she was an avid reader all her life.

She attended the School of Industrial Art, spent a brief time at Hunter College and went to Art Students League of New York. After this she travelled to Europe, where she lived in Rome for a short period before moving to Jerusalem, where she made a living making and selling paintings. She visited Montreal on her return to North America in the early 1970s before settling in Toronto, where she met her future husband Brian Bender, whom she married in 1974. Gilman taught for fifteen years at the Ontario College of Art. However, her early efforts at getting her book published met with rejections, and it took her 15 years to see her book released in 1984 by Scholastic Inc. in Canada. Conversely, the 1992 story Something From Nothing is an adaptation of an old Yiddish tale. She also illustrated the children's books she wrote. She recalled spending ten years working on The Balloon Tree. Her stories often changed in development, for example Grandma and the Pirates started out as ''Grandma's Chocolate Chicken.

Gilman's books were notable for their strong female lead characters, but with a male lead character in Something from Nothing, that went on to win the 1993 Ruth Schwartz Award for best children's book,