BIO

Laura Barfield writes for children of all ages. She lives in the Seattle area with her husband, two sons, two gerbils, one bearded dragon, and one labradoodle. When she’s not writing, she can be found baking, gardening, and strolling trails of the beautiful Pacific Northwest.

With her background in Early Childhood Education, Laura has made it her mission to weave nonfiction through her fictional stories. Her middle grade novel, The Master Apprentice: Leonardo da Vinci, is an historical fiction STEAM novel about Leonardo's life as an apprentice. This novel also introduces children to 15th century Florentine history.

In preparation for writing this manuscript, Laura studied countless books, documentaries and lectures, and traveled to Vinci and Florence where she visited museums and several historical sites that Leonardo frequented. She was fortunate to have traveled during the 500th anniversary of Leonardo's death when more exhibits were being held, including one at Buckingham Palace which she was able to attend during her time in England before heading to Italy. Click the Leonardo da Vinci Gallery tab to see pictures from her travels.

Laura has also written several picture book manuscripts and is currently working on a nonfiction early reader series.