tephen Mitchell was born in Brooklyn in 1943, educated at Amherst, the Sorbonne, and Yale, and de-educated through intensive Zen practice. His many books include the bestselling Tao Te Ching, The Gospel According to Jesus, Bhagavad Gita, The Book of Job, Gilgamesh, two books of fiction—Meetings with the Archangel and The Frog Prince—,The Second Book of the Tao (forthcoming this fall), and with his wife, Byron Katie, the bestselling Loving What Is and A Thousand Names for Joy.

His children's books include Jesus: What He Really Said and Did (American Library Association Booklist 2002 Top Ten Religious Books for Children), The Nightingale, with pictures by Bagram Ibatoulline (National Council of Teachers of English 2002 Notable Children's Books) and The Wishing Bone, with pictures by Tom Pohrt (winner of the 2004 Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award, as the best book of poetry published for children in the United States).

When he is not writing, he likes to—in no particular order—think about writing, think about not writing, not think about writing, and not think about not writing. His favorite color is blue, which happens to be the color of his wife’s eyes. You can read extensive excerpts from all his books on his website, www.stephenmitchellbooks.com.