A gifted artist and writer, Natalie Babbitt is the award-winning author of the modern classic Tuck Everlasting, The Eyes of the Amaryllis, Kneeknock Rise and many other brilliantly original books for young people. She began her career in 1966 as the illustrator of The... more

Tony Johnston is the author of numerous books for children, including An Old Shell: Poems of the Galápagos. She lives in San Marino, California. Karen Barbour has illustrated many books, including I Have an Olive Tree by Eve Bunting. She lives in Inverness, California. more

TED HUGHES (1930–1998) published numerous volumes of poetry and prose for adults and children. He received the Guardian Award for Children’s Fiction in 1985 and was appointed Poet Laureate of England in 1984. RAYMOND BRIGGS has produced some of the most cherished and... more

ELIZABETH SPIRES, the recipient of a Whiting Writers’ Award, is the author of six poetry collections for adults, and the children’s book The Mouse of Amherst. She lives in Baltimore, Maryland. more

William Jay Smith served as Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress (a position now called Poet Laureate) from 1968 to 1970 and was twice a finalist for the National Book Award. He divides his time between Cummington, Massachusetts, and Paris. more

Janet S. Wong is the author of many poetry collections and acclaimed picture books, including This Next New Year. She lives in Medina, Washington. Geneviève Côté has illustrated several books for children. She lives in Montreal, Quebec. more

JANET S. WONG and GENEVIÈVE CÔTÉ collaborated on Minn and Jake, a Bulletin Blue Ribbon Book (see page 45). Ms. Wong lives in Hopewell, New Jersey. Ms. Côté lives in Montreal, Quebec. more

Elizabeth Spires lives in Baltimore, Maryland. Claire A. Nivola has illustrated several children's books. She lives in Newton Highlands, Massachusetts. more

Valerie Worth (1933–94) was the author of many books for children, including the collection All the Small Poems and Fourteen More.Natalie Babbitt illustrated five previous books by Ms. Worth and is the author of many of her own, including Tuck Everlasting. She lives in... more

Nikki Giovanni has written many books of poetry for children and adults. She is the author of Lincoln and Douglass, The Genie in the Jar, and Ego-tripping and Other Poems for Young People. Rosa is a Caldecott Honor book. Giovanni calls herself, "a Black American, a... more

Helen Frost is the author of several books for young people, including Hidden, Diamond Willow, Crossing Stones, The Braid, and Keesha’s House, selected an Honor Book for the Michael L. Printz Award. Helen Frost was born in 1949 in South Dakota, the fifth of ten children.... more

DEBORAH KOGAN RAY is the author and illustrator of several acclaimed children’s books, including The Flower Hunter: William Bartram, America’s First Naturalist, an NSTA–CBC Outstanding Science Trade Book for Children. She lives in Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania. more