Dayal Kaur Khalsa was born in New York on April 17, 1943. After obtaining a liberal arts degree from the City College of New York, she travelled for a number of years before moving to Canada in the early 1970s. It was only about 10 years later - when she had shown some drawings to the Tundra publishing company - that she began to write and illustrate books for children. A self-taught artist, she created nine books during the short period of time from 1982-1983 to 1989. Published in the United States by Clarkson N. Potter (New York) and in Canada by Tundra Books (Montreal), her books re-create her childhood, which was spent in the Queens district of New York near her grandmother. Her obsession with dogs, her dreams of becoming a cowboy, and her focus on Mrs. Pelligrino return us to a childhood of discovery, nostalgia and warm images. Her luminous and vibrant gouache paintings are a perfect complement to the stories, full of tenderness and mischief, that she left us. She died in Vancouver on July 17, 1989. In tribute to her adopted country, Dayal Kaur Khalsa bequeathed her canvases, illustrations, drawings, research notes, manuscripts and other documents related to her publications to the National Library of Canada.

Bibliography

Baabee: livres pour bébés = Baabee: Books for Babies. Illustrated by the author. Montreal: Tundra Books, 1983. 2 boxes, 8 books. (Picture books)
Cowboy Dreams. Written and illustrated by the author. Montreal: Tundra Books, 1990. 26 p.
How Pizza Came to Our Town. Written and illustrated by the author. Montreal: Tundra Books, 1989. 23 p.
How Pizza Came to Queens. Written and illustrated by the author. New York: Clarkson N. Potter Publishers, 1989. 26 p. (American edition of How Pizza Came to Our Town)
I Want a Dog. Written and illustrated by the author. Montreal: Tundra Books, 1987. 24 p.
Julian. Written and illustrated by the author. Montreal: Tundra Books, 1989. 25 p.
My Family Vacation. Written and illustrated by the author. Montreal: Tundra Books, 1988. 26 p.
Sleepers. Written and illustrated by the author. Montreal: Tundra Books, 1988, 1999. 24 p.
The Snow Cat. Written and illustrated by the author. Montreal: Tundra Books, 1992, 1999. 24 p.
Tales of a Gambling Grandma. Written and illustrated by the author. Montreal: Tundra Books, 1986. 32 p. [National Library of Canada. 2001]