An advocate of and tireless campaigner for quality Australian science books for children, Eleanor Stodart was the award winning author of many books. Stodart graduated with a B. Science degree from the University of Sydney and worked for the CSIRO Division of Wildlife Research for several years. She later wrote a series of nature study books for children. Stoddart had started to illustrate her own work and had begun to write and illustrate picture books at the time of her death. Active in the Children's Book Council of Australia, she edited Reading Time, reviewed children's books, and lobbied for and helped establish the Eve Pownall Award. Stodart was involved in writing Biology: The Common Threads (1990-91) and Environmental Science (1996) for the Australian Academy of Science.