Bernice Eisenstein was born in 1949, shortly after her parents immigrated to Canada. After receiving an honours degree in English literature at York University, she lived in Israel and England where she studied art for several years. On return to Canada, she was fortunate to be able to combine two passions-art and literature-and she freelanced both as an editor and illustrator. Bernice Eisenstein lives in Toronto with her husband, son, daughter and their cat and dog.