Barbara Alpert has written nine children's books, including two Capstone books, A Look at Magnets and Electricity All Around, which were inspired by a Toshiba America Foundation Grant she won to teach her fourth grade class about magnets and electricity by creating games and toys. She is also the author of No Friend Like a Sister, The Love of Friends, and Child of My Heart: A Celebration of Adoption; all three books were all chosen as selections by the Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club. Barbara lives in New York City, where she has worked as a teacher, writer, and book editor. She enjoys kayaking and volunteers with the New York City Ballet, the New York Audubon Society, and the New York City Marathon. She especially loves to travel and has journeyed to Africa, Antarctica, and the Aleutian Islands in search of adventure and new stories to share.