David Harry Shapiro was born and raised in New York City.  He was educated at Brandeis University in Boston and did his graduate in Japanese language and literature at Colombia University in New York.  He has lived and worked in Hawaii, Ethiopia, the Philippines and Japan, where he has spent the better part of the last twenty years. He writes both in his native language and in Japanese. His other books for children published in Japan include HARRY NO YAMA ('Harry's Mountain' --Bronze Shinsha) and AME NOCHI MIMIZU BARE ('The Adventures of a Worm' -- Joho Center Publishing). In addition, he is the author of several volumes of poetry, a book of essays, theater translations and original plays that have been produced in New York and in Japan. He is a professor of English and communications at Ryutsu Keizai University and a lecturer in theater at the School of International Liberal Studies at Wasdea University. To date, his most acclaimed achievement is as co-author of Regina Shapiro, ASIJ class of '98.