Alison got her B.A. in History at Connecticut College in 1986 and completed the Radcliffe Publishing Program in 1989. She worked as a children's book editor at Simon & Schuster and Dial Books for Young Readers. Then she became editorial director at the Jim Henson Company. She briefly worked for LucasFilm before she became a full-time children's book author. Alison has written books for Nickelodeon and PBS as well original titles for Harry Abrams, Harcourt, and Simon & Schuster. She's written two cookbooks as well as a chapter book series under the name Wanda Coven. Alison lives with her husband and son in Northern California.