Jeanne Birdsall is an American photographer and writer of children's books, best known for her five-volume series about the Penderwick family. The Penderwicks, the first book in the series, won the 2005 National Book Award for Young People's Literature.

Birdsall grew up in the suburbs west of Philadelphia, where she enjoyed the nurturing environment of wonderful public schools. She had many great teachers who encouraged her intellectual curiosity and love for math and Latin. Among them, Mrs. Corkhill, Mr. Tremonte, and Miss Basehore had a profound impact on her educational journey. Despite deciding to become a writer at the tender age of ten, it took her until she was forty-one to begin her writing career. In the interim, Birdsall supported herself through various odd jobs and honed her skills as an art photographer, with some of her photographs becoming part of permanent collections.

Her journey to writing took a significant detour, but she eventually found her way back to her childhood dream. Twenty-five years into her writing career, she continues to inspire with her stories.