Bio

Linda Zuckerman grew up in Brooklyn and has lived in the Pacific Northwest for almost fifteen years. She has been a children's book editor for more than forty years on both coasts, having held executive editorial positions at several major publishing houses. Linda is the editor of three books that were awarded the Caldecott Medal and two that received Newbery Honor citations.


I Will Hold You 'Til You Sleep is her first work as an author.  "I don't know how, why, or when, but when the phrase 'I will hold you while you sleep" came to me, it seemed like the beginning of something," says Linda.  "I put it aside for several years and did other things.  Then at one point I looked at it again.  Although I liked the alliteration of "will/while," it seemed to me to be uncomfortably obsessive to hold a child 'while' he/she slept, so I changed it to 'I will hold you 'til you sleep.'  Not as musical, but better for the child." she states.  " I wanted to write something that expressed a heartfelt ideal of the adult-child bond: that by loving and respecting all children, we provide a foundation in empathy and caring that they can pass along to others throughout their lives."

Click here to listen to Linda reading from I Will Hold You 'Til You Sleep.


Linda Zuckerman lives with her husband, an artist, near Portland, Oregon.