Bernice Barberstock is 86 years old and lives in Kingston, Ontario. Jimmy and the Snowman is her first book. When Bernice's daughter was young, like a lot of children, she loved bedtime stories, not traditional stories but tales made up by her mom. Bernice became a skillful storyteller to please her daughter. Every night she would offer up different stories to her daughter and one night after the first snow fall of the season, she found inspiration for Jimmy and the Snowman. The story became a favourite for her daughter and was requested night after night.