Gillian O’Reilly has been interested in words ever since she ate the dust jacket off the
Shorter Oxford English Dictionary when she was 11 months old. Throughout childhood,
she continued to be a voracious consumer of books—although she chose reading as a
better way of enjoying them.
A freelance writer and editor, Gillian has worked in the book business for many years.
From 1996 to 2016, she edited Canadian Children’s Book News, published by the
Canadian Children’s Book Centre.
Gillian is also the author of two non-fiction books for young readers: Slangalicious:
Where We Got That Crazy Lingo (2004) and The Great Number Rumble: A Story of Math
in Surprising Places, co-written with Cora Lee with illustrations by Lil Crump (2007,
revised edition 2016). She is currently working on book — for grown-ups — on the history
of Canadian children’s bookselling.
Gillian is the recipient of the 2016 Claude Aubry Award for distinguished service within
the field of the Canadian children’s literature. A longtime Telling Tales volunteer and
former chair of the board, she is currently the president of the board of the Canadian
Children’s Book Centre.