Biography
An award-winning author and former chimpanzee caregiver, Brenda Scott Royce is happiest when her work indulges her love of both beasts and books. Her novels include MONKEY LOVE (Penguin/NAL), about a stand-up comedienne who becomes the temporary guardian of a pint-sized primate, and its sequel, MONKEY STAR, which follows heroine Holly Heckerling to Hollywood and an impromptu stint as an animal wrangler for a feature film. Her short story "Alphabet Games" won Grand Prize in the 84th Annual Writer's Digest Writing Competition.
Brenda has written more than 30 books for children, including THE COOLEST STUFF ON EARTH (NatGeo Kids), 1,000 AMAZING ANIMAL FACTS (Animal Planet), DISCOVERY ROCKS & GEMS (Discovery), the ZOO CREW series (Jolly Fish Press), THE DATE (Lerner Publishing Group), ONE WORDY BIRD, CHAMPION'S NEW SHOES, and BAILEY THE WONDER DOG (ASPCA), DIG IT! DINOSAURS (cowritten with Corinna Bechko), and SHARKS! (Smithsonian/Silver Dolphin Press). Her book ANGELA & LULINGU: TWO GORILLAS, A WORLD APART (Blue Sneaker Press) won best children's educational picture book at the 2024 Next Generation Indie Book Awards and was a 2024 silver Nautilus Award winner in the category of best middle grade nonfiction.
She has edited Zoo View, the award-winning magazine of the Los Angeles Zoo, for more than a decade. She has abridged 100+ books for audio, including bestsellers by Al Gore, David Baldacci, Janet Evanovich, Sara Paretsky, Lisa Gardner, Lisa Jackson, Nicholas Sparks, Elizabeth Lowell, Jane Heller, Stephen J. Cannell, and Michael Crichton. She also scripted several episodes of the Disney Junior animated series, CHUGGINGTON.
Brenda is a founding member of Children's Media Association/L.A., member of the animation caucus of Writer's Guild of America/West, and serves on the board of the L.A. chapter of the Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators (SCBWI). She earned a master's degree in conservation biology and has traveled to Africa, Asia, and South America to study primates in the wild. She enjoys participating in local habitat restoration projects and is a transport volunteer with SoCal Parrot.