Peter Roop graduated from Lawrence University to become an elementary-school teacher. It was in his early teaching days that Roop first decided to try writing for children, and Roop persevered, writing and publishing his first short stories and articles while teaching in England. In 1980 he got his Master's degree in children's literature from the Center for the Study of Children's Literature at Simmons College in Boston, where he studied with Newbery Medalist Scott O'Dell.
