Lori Burton has been a writer since she was a child, and her early love of reading was the motivation behind her first book-length story, “The Flying Mouse,” which she wrote in Grade 6. She also wrote poetry for most of her childhood.An elementary schoolteacher for nearly four decades, Lori has taught every grade from preschool to Grade 5, as well as lessons in reading, writing, oral language, and math demonstration to students from pre-Kindergarten to Grade 8. She holds a master’s degree in education from the University of Regina, and her first publication was a teaching handbook, Inviting Writing into the Science Classroom: How Teachers Open the Door (YNWP, 2002). Now retired, Lori lives in Regina, Saskatchewan, where she lives with her husband and teaches English at RCMP Depot Division, and works as an editor in the publishing industry.Inspired by reading first to her students, and then to her own three children, Lori’s interest in children’s literature led her to write her first work of juvenile fiction, Fight for Justice (Coteau Books, 2009), the story of a ten-year-old boy dealing with bullying and other challenges of growing up in the inner city. Though written as fiction, Lori’s second book for children, Where’s Johnny?, a chapter book for early readers, is based on the backyard visits of a real-life Maine Coon cat.