Cirrus@Austlit

Margaret Paice is the daughter of Sydney Cantle and Violet nee Burman. She grew up in the country and was educated in outback schools and through the Queensland Primary Correspondence School. She then attended the Moreton Bay High School and spent one year as a boarder. In 1955 Paice moved to Sydney where she undertook a year's study of illustration at the National Art School and painting at the Royal Art Society. She worked as a commercial artist then freelanced. Initially Paice had wanted to become an illustrator but Angus and Robertson's children's editor encouraged her to value her writing ability. In 1969 she settled in the Blue Mountains, a location she used many times in her children's books. She has written over twenty novels for younger readerships and two works about Aboriginal children. Paice has travelled extensively overseas. In 1979 she wrote Wheels and Wings, a history of Australian transport.