Henry Shykoff's family came to Canada from Poland when Henry was six years old. He grew up in Toronto and graduated from the University of Toronto medical school in 1949. Anaesthesia was his chosen profession and he enjoyed forty years of a distinguished medical career, which included teaching and research.

After retiring from the hospital, he pursued his love of storytelling and the study of paleoanthropology. His first book, Once Upon a Time Long, Long Ago, was enthusiastically acclaimed by young readers. It was a Silver Birch nominee.

Henry lives in East York with his wife, Ruth. They are the proud parents of three daughters and the happy grandparents of four grandchildren. Now in his eighties, Henry is working on his third book about Eevo and Sim.