About Me
Debra Wolf Goldstein, Esq.
Debra Kim Wolf (author name)
Since childhood, I’ve always had a special connection with nature. I grew up hiking, camping, and canoeing in a small Central Pennsylvania town along the Appalachian Trail. At age 11, I was outraged when a beloved grove of chestnut trees in my hometown was clear cut and paved for a parking lot (yup, just like the Joni Mitchell song!). Recently, my mother showed me an essay I’d written from that time, in which I declared that when I grew up I wanted to “turn parking lots into playgrounds.”
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Writing
My writing for adults has been widely published in magazines, newspapers, academic journals, and online. I've written about a variety of legal and non-legal topics ranging from backpacking to meditation retreats to land preservation to a biography of a little-known early female environmentalist.
I'm thrilled that my first children's book, A FAMILY FOR ZOYA: THE TRUE STORY OF AN ENDANGERED CUB, will be published by Platypus Media in July 2025.
Zoya is the lone surviving Amur cub from her litter at the Philadelphia Zoo. When her mother refuses to care for her, the zookeepers urgently attempt something that has never worked before. They relocate the fragile cub to the Oklahoma Zoo, where they hope that Lola, a Sumatran tiger with three newborns, will raise Zoya as one of her own. Will this mother tiger of a different subspecies accept and take care of Zoya, too?
This inspiring true tale of love, acceptance, and survival is perfect for young readers and animal enthusiasts alike.
Pre-order now! A Family for Zoya
My second children's book, about the food chain, will be published by Science Naturally in 2026.
I'm a member of SCBWI and Inked Voices, and in 2024 was awarded an Honorable Mention by PB Rising Stars for my picture book biography about a female botanist. I serve as a judge for the Green Earth book awards, selecting the very best nature and environmental-themed books for children published each year.
I'm also delighted to serve as Editor for a new line of nature-themed books, an alliance between One Little Earth and the woman-owned indie publisher The Little Press. We'll be supporting new and early-career authors and illustrators and donating hundreds of copies of these books to area literacy organizations (read more on the Current Work page of this website).
Music
Although I’m not a very good guitar player, I do love writing lyrics and am honored to have won a dozen songwriting awards, including from American Songwriter, Nashville Songwriters Ass’n Internat’l (NSAI); and The Great American Song Contest. It probably won’t come as a surprise that several of my songs are about nature!
Listen to sample below and check out my other music on SoundCloud.
“The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it.”
—Robert Swan