Internationally acclaimed author, humanitarian and peace activist, Deborah Ellis has travelled the world to meet with and hear the stories of children affected by poverty, war, racism and illness. Her fiction and non-fiction books give us a glimpse into the lives of children from Afghanistan (the Parvana series), Bolivia (the Diego books), the Middle East (Three Wishes: Palestinian and Israeli Children Speak) and Southern Africa (The Heaven Shop).Deborah's book, Off to War: Soldiers' Children Speak is a collection of interviews with children of Canadian and American soldiers serving in Afghanistan and Iraq. Her companion book Children of War: Iraqi Children Speak interviews Iraqi children about how the war and displacement have shaped their lives. Royalties from both books have been donated to the Children in Crisis Fund of IBBY, the International Board on Books for Young People. She has donated more than a two million dollars in royalties to organisations such as Women for Women in Afghanistan, UNICEF, and Street Kids International. In 2006, Deb was named to the Order of Ontario and in 2016 she was named to the Order of Canada.