Brenda Z. Guiberson has written many books for children, including "Cactus Hotel", "Spoonbill Swamp", "Moon Bear" and "Disasters". As a child, Brenda never thought she wanted to be a writer her dreams tended more toward jungle explorer. She graduated from the University of Washington with degrees in English and Fine Art. She started thinking about writing for children when her son went to elementary school, and she volunteered in his class and in the school library. After taking exciting trips that involved a fifty-foot cactus, hungry alligators and sunset-colored spoonbills, she wanted to cre...