Lorette Broekstra was born in Yallourn, in Victoria, Australia, the youngest of 4 daughters. She has loved drawing from a very young age. She studied Graphic Design in Melbourne. After graduating, she moved to Holland where she worked as a freelance artist for 8 years. While in Holland, she had two children. Broekstra returned to Australia and began writing and illustrating children's books. Her her first book, Baby Bear goes to the Zoo, won the Crichton Award for Illustration in 2000. She wrote four more books in the Baby Bear series, as well as another series called Hugo the Elephant. In addition to her own work, Broekstra has illustrated books written by other artists. She teaches at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology and the Council of Adult Education in Melbourne.