Dan Bar-el is an award-winning children’s author, educator and storyteller. His writing includes chapter books, such as The Very, Very Far North and Audrey (cow), picture books, such as Not Your Typical Dragon and It's Great Being a Dad, and graphic novels, such as That One Spooky Night and Dog Night at the Story Zoo.

For the past twenty-five years, Dan has been working with children ages 3 to 13. He’s been a school age childcare provider, a preschool teacher, a creative drama and a creative writing teacher. He’s developed a multitude of creative activities for children including movie making and a radio show involving school-age childcare centres across Vancouver. As a preschool teacher, Dan created Stories in Our Own Words, a program for 3 & 4 year olds based on the ideas of famed educator and author, Vivian Gussin Paley that fostered the development of the children’s own stories by recording them and then acting them as a group.

In the past, Dan trained and worked professionally as an actor, has written for theatre, as well as written and performed comedy across Canada. These days, when not writing or teaching writing to children through the organization CWC, Dan merrily travels around the country visiting many schools and libraries.

Hiking and travelling are two of his passions. In 2004, he completed the 800 km pilgrimage walk to Santiago de Compostella in Spain, and more recently, he did the Inca Trail to Machu Pichu in Peru. Cooking, baking and eating the results of said efforts are some of his others pursuits. Dan lives in Vancouver, BC with his wife, artist and goldsmith, Dominique Bréchault, and Sasha, the most adorable cat in the known universe.