Norma Kassirer

Norma Kassirer, a native of Buffalo, NY, is best known for her classic middle-grade children’s book Magic Elizabeth, which is featured in Eden Ross Lipson’s New York Times Parents Guide to the Best Books for Children. Generations of children continue to enjoy this timeless story, which has garnered 78 ratings and 50 five-star rave reviews on Amazon. Another chapter book, The Doll Snatchers, was also published by The Viking Press a couple of years later.

Now, a previously unpublished beginning chapter book of hers, The Knitting Witch, will be published in Fall 2024.

Norma is also the author of numerous books and short stories for adults. In 1991, author John Barth described Kassirer’s stories as “sly, wry and fanciful, fairy-tale realistic.”

Also a painter and book artist, examples of Norma’s handmade books can be found in the collection of the Albright Knox Art Gallery and in The Poetry Collection at the University of Buffalo. You can learn more about Norma at her website, under her name.