He is a writer born in Bogotá, a veterinarian and has a Master’s degree in Fine Arts from the National University of Colombia. He is the author of more than 60 books of childrens and young adult literature, some of them winners of national and international prizes. He has won the Colombian Association for Children’s and Young Adult Books for Las cosas de la casa (1988); the Mexican Nezahualcóyotl Prize for El hombre que soñaba (1998); the Norma-Fundalectura Latin American Prize for Children’s and Young Adult Literature for El imperio de las cinco lunas (1998); the José Martí Career Prize; and has been a guest at the University of Iowa’s International Writers’ Workshop. The Colombian Ministry of Foreign Affairs recently named him Cultural Ambassador for the World.