Peter Dickinson was born on December 16th in northern Rhodesia (now Zambia) near Victoria Falls. In his biography, he writes that people sometimes went swimming in the Zambezi River near his home, but they did so inside a big wooden cage so the crocodiles couldn't harm them. Mr. Dickinson had three brothers—his family returned to England so their sons could be educated in English schools. He graduated from King's College in Cambridge. After graduating, Mr. Dickinson served in the British Army. He then worked at Punch magazine as assistant editor and reviewer for seventeen years. His first book, The Weathermonger, was published in 1968. It is now published as part of The Changes Trilogy. In 1982 he was placed on the International Board of Books for Young People Honor List for Tulka and The Iron Lion was selected one of New York Times Notable Books. In 1989 he won the Boston Globe Horn Book Award for Eva. He and his first wife had two daughters and three sons. His second wife is Robin McKinley, the fantasy author. Writing about himself in third person, he said, "For the best of them it feels as if the book had knocked on the door of his mind and said 'Write me.' Then he’ll spend half a year or more letting the stranger in and finding who or what it is."