Children's book author and adventure travel journalist PETER MANDEL writes for The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, Huffington Post, and others. His books are published by Macmillan, Simon & Schuster, Scholastic, Henry Holt, and Hyperion and have been part of exhibits at the Museum of Natural History in New York, at the Smithsonian, and at the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Peter lives in Rhode Island with his best pals: wife, Kathy, and rescue cats, Emily and Cecil. A writer by trade, his parents were novelists and staff writers at LIFE magazine. He and his brother and sister grew up in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood, attending City & Country School in Greenwich Village. He has a B.A. from Middlebury College and an M.A. from Brown.

New books of Peter's include JACKHAMMER SAM (Macmillan/Roaring Brook), illustrated by David Catrow, called "wonderful and overwhelming, rattling and mesmerizing" by Publishers Weekly. "If a new Walt Whitman broke up sidewalks with a jackhammer, this is exactly what his 'Song of Myself' would be," says The Chicago Tribune.

Also new is ZOO AH-CHOOOO (Holiday House), a Reading Rainbow selection illustrated by Elwood Smith. "Lively pen-and-ink and watercolor cartoon illustrations join with the humorous text to tell the tale with panache," says School Library Journal. "Gusty splatters and loud, boisterous sneezes can't lose," says Kirkus Reviews.

Published two years ago, BUN, ONION, BURGER (Simon & Schuster) is illustrated by Chris Eliopoulos and was named a Summer 2010 Children's Indie Next pick by the American Booksellers Association.

Peter's other recent kids' books include PLANES AT THE AIRPORT and BOATS ON THE RIVER, both from Scholastic. The Boston Globe calls them “a great way to introduce the idea of travel in simple terms” and The Dallas Morning News lauds the books for "informing and calming very young travelers."

Another picture book, SAY HEY! A SONG OF WILLIE MAYS, came out from Hyperion Books for Children in 2001 and was named a Boston Globe "Quick Pick" for children, a Child Magazine recommended title, a San Francisco Examiner "Bay City Best" and a featured book in USA Today's Sports Weekly. SAY HEY! is one of six titles selected for Hyperion's JUMP AT THE SUN TREASURY OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN PICTURE BOOKS and was featured in the "Baseball as America" exhibit curated by the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Peter's chapter book for children is MY OCEAN LINER: ACROSS THE NORTH ATLANTIC ON THE GREAT SHIP NORMANDIE from Stemmer House, which Publishers Weekly called "a voyage in grand style" and which was featured on a special family sailing on Cunard's QE2.

RED CAT, WHITE CAT, another children's book, came out in 1995 from Henry Holt & Co. and was an American Bookseller "Pick of the Lists," a Kirkus Reviews "Best of the Issue," and a Working Mother magazine recommended book. In 1991, HarperCollins published his humorous book, THE OFFICIAL CAT I.Q. TEST. His more recent books include THE CAT DICTIONARY (Penguin) and THE OFFICIAL DOG I.Q. TEST (Bonus Books).

A contributing author of the best-selling collection, CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE CAT & DOG LOVER'S SOUL, Mandel has published his articles and essays in Harper's, Reader's Digest, The Wall Street Journal, The International Herald Tribune, The Los Angeles Times, The Chicago Tribune, The Boston Globe Sunday Magazine, National Geographic Kids, The Christian Science Monitor, The Globe and Mail, The Toronto Star, The Australian, and Delta Sky. His work is syndicated internationally through Featurewell.com.