Christobel Mattingley was born at Brighton, South Australia, on October 26, 1931. She started writing when she was 10, in the children's pages of a nature magazine. While her children were growing up, she worked as a librarian in schools and a teacher's college. Her first book was published in 1970 and she has been a full time writer since 1974. Mattingley is the author of 42 books. Some have been shortlisted for awards, and some have won awards. Cockawun and Cockatoo was named a Notable Book in the Children's Book Council Awards for 2000 and received a Certificate of Merit in the Whitley Awards for the Best Children's Novel of 2000 of the Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales.She has… also received an Advance Australia Award, an Honorary Doctorate of the University of South Australia, and been made a Member of the Order of Australia for my contribution to literature. She won the inaugural Childrens Book Council of Australia Junior Book of the Year Award in 1982 for Rummage. The Race was an Honour Book in the 1996 Childrens Book Council of Australia Picture Book of the Year Awards. As well as writing for children, Christobel has written film scripts, short stories, articles and poetry. In 1990 she received the Advance Australia Award for Service to Literature, and in 1996 she was made a Member of the Order of Australia for service to literature, particularly children's literature, and for community service through her commitment to social and cultural issues. No Gun for Asmir received a High Commendation in the Australian Human Rights Awards of 1994. In 1990 she received the ultimate accolade an Advance Australia Medal for her contribution to literature in Australia.