Emily tours her grandmother's empty house one last time before taking the reluctant Oma to her new residence. The difficult transition from family home to retirement community is poignantly rendered in this cross-generational tale told from a child's viewpoint. In 2003, she became a Member of the Order of Canada and in 2007, she received an Honorary Doctor of Laws from her alma mater, the University of Western Ontario, and an Award of Merit from the Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists. She has two grown-up children, Natalie and Gordon and lives in Toronto, Ontario.

She has written three episodes of the TV documentary series, Creepy Canada, and has just finished the script for a full-length feature film, Loving Mrs. She has been a columnist for Homemaker's Magazine, written for Canadian Living, Chatelaine and Today's Parent and she provided the concept and initial research for 'The Bee Talker' which aired on CBC TV's The Nature of Things.

Paulette has also written dozens of non-fiction books for children including the Amazing series, the In My Neighbourhood series, The Sun, and The Moon. She is also the author of Changes in You and Me, books about adolescence, the Oma's Quilt was developed as a short film by the National Film Board of Canada, Big Sarah's Little Boots and more. After Franklin in the Dark was illustrated by Brenda Clark and published in 1986. FranklinĪfter the birth of her first child, Natalie, she decided to write a children's book inspired by the Season 7 episode of M*A*S*H entitled C*A*V*E, where Hawkeye Pierce admits that he is claustrophobic and refuses to go into a cave, 'If I were a turtle I would be afraid of my own shell', he explained. Bourgeois graduated with an MFA in creative writing from the University of British Columbia in 2009. contributing pieces to Chatelaine, Canadian Living, Reader's Digest and Maclean's. She became a freelance journalist in Washington, D.C. She studied journalism at Carleton University then worked as a reporter for the Ottawa Citizen and CBC Television. She was a psychiatric occupational therapist for three years before deciding to focus on her writing. Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Bourgeois graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Occupational therapy from the University of Western Ontario in 1974.

Oma's Quilt by Paulette Bourgeois