Margaret Beames is a children's author whose imaginative narratives draw young readers into worlds of drama and suspense. A prolific writer, Beames has published forty books for children since her first, The Greenstone Summer, in 1977. Several titles have been published in Australia and the UK. She won the Picture Book and Children's Choice categories at the 2001 New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards, and, since 1987, has been a finalist several times in the same awards. Beames has also written drama for stage and radio.