Sheri Radford is that rarest of creatures: a Vancouver resident who was actually born in Vancouver. As the editor of two magazines for visitors—Where
Vancouver and Where
Whistler—she spends her days wrestling with commas, taming adjectives, and banishing adverbs. As the author of three extremely silly, award-winning books for children—Penelope and the Humongous Burp, Penelope and the Monsters, and Penelope and the Preposterous Birthday Party—she spends her evenings playing, imagining, and creating. She regularly speaks to large groups of children in schools and libraries, but she also likes talking to adult groups, especially because they tend to burp and fart less.
Sheri lives in an overpriced but funky Yaletown loft with her messy husband and three even messier cats. She took up running in 2010 and, in a fit of insanity, ran her first marathon in 2011. Even though her knees haven’t forgiven her yet, she can be found most mornings jogging along Vancouver’s seawall. An avid reader and moviegoer, Sheri loves to advise friends, family, and even strangers about what to read and watch. Over the years she has spent such an obscene amount of money at Chapters/Indigo bookstores that the company awarded her a free lifetime membership card, which always causes store clerks to do a double take. Sheri’s motto is “Life is too short to read bad books or watch bad movies.”
Several people have commented
that Penelope looks an awful lot like Sheri did as a
child—even though illustrator Christine Tripp
had never met Sheri or seen any of Sheri's childhood photos when she started illustrating the books. What do you
think? Do you see a similarity between young Sheri and
mischievous Penelope?
