Sara O'Leary was born in Saskatoon and came to B.C. in 1994. Prior to becoming a book section columnist for the Vancouver Sun, O'Leary studied writing at UBC and Concordia and published Comfort Me with Apples (Thistledown Press, 1998) and Wish You Were Here: The Darkhorse Series, Number Five (Exile Editions, 1994).

In 2007, having moved to eastern Canada, Sara O'Leary became the co-recipient of the $10,000 Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award for When You Were Small (Simply Read Books, 2006) with illustrations by Julie Morstad of Vancouver. The Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award honours excellence in the illustrated picture book format, for children aged 3 to 6. O'Leary has also received a Theatre BC National Scriptwriting Prize in 2003 for The Kitchen Sink. She was shortlisted for a Christie Harris illustrated children's literature prize for This is Sadie (Tundra Books, 2015), illustrated by Julie Morstad, which was adapted for the stage by Barbara Zinn Krieger for New York City Children's Theater. The production, directed and choreographed by Stephanie Klemons, was deemed "beguiling" by the New York Times.

BOOKS:

Wish You Were Here (Exile Editions, 1994)
Comfort Me With Apples (Thistledown Press, 1998)
When You Were Small (Simply Read Books, 2005)
This is Sadie (Tundra Books, 2015) Illustrated by Julie Morstad
A Family Is a Family Is a Family (Groundwood Books, 2016) llustrated by Qin Leng
You Are One/Two/Three (Owl Kids, 2016/17) llustrated by Karen Klassen
Owls Are Good at Keeping Secrets (Random House/Tundra, 2018) llustrated by Jacob Grant
The Boy and the Blue Moon (Godwin Books, Henry Holt, 2018) llustrated by Ashley Crowley

[BCBW 2022] "Fiction" "Kidlit"