KEITH MCGOWAN has worked most of his life as an educator. He helped run an elementary after school program and day camp, taught mathematics and science, volunteered for a year as a teacher in Haiti, and tutored students who were unable to attend school full time. An avid... more

YONA ZELDIS MCDONOUGH is the author of many books for children, including Sisters in Strength and Anne Frank. She lives in Brooklyn, New York. BETHANNE ANDERSEN has illustrated many acclaimed books for children, including PatienceWright: America’s First Sculptor and... more

DAN ANDREASEN has illustrated many children’s books, including Firebears, the Rescue Team.He has also written and illustrated several books, including The Giant of Seville and The Baker’s Dozen. He lives in Medina, Ohio, with his family. more

GENE BARRETTA has written and illustrated several award-winning books for young readers, including Now & Ben: The Modern Inventions of Benjamin Franklin and Dear Deer: A Book of Homophones. He lives inWynnewood, Pennsylvania, with his family. more

JANET GRABER is the author of Jacob and the Polar Bears. Muktar and the Camels received aMcKnight Award given by theMinnesota Literary Loft. She lives inMinnesota. SCOTT MACK is the recipient of a Silver Medal from the Society of Illustrators. This is his first picture book... more

RALPH COVERT is the author of the picture book Ralph’s World Rocks!, illustrated by Charise Mericle Harper, and is the Grammy-nominated creator of Ralph’s World, the popular children’s line of music which includes eight CDs and two DVDs. He can be seen regularly in his... more

Penny Colman is the author of many award-winning books, among them, Toilets, Bathtubs, Sinks and Sewers: A History of the Bathroom, a New York Public Library Best Book for Teens, and Rosie the Riveter: Women Working on the Homefront in WWII, an American Library... more

KIMBERLYWILLIS HOLT is the author of many books for young readers, including Piper Reed: The Great Gypsy, Piper Reed: Navy Brat, Part ofMe,Keeper of the Night,My Louisiana Sky, and When Zachary Beaver Came to Town, winner of the National Book Award. She lives in Amarillo,... more

SEAN KENNEY is a LEGO Certified Professional. He makes sculptures and models out of LEGO bricks at his studio in New York City. He is recognized as one of the premier LEGO artists in the world. more

SHEILA SOLOMON KLASS has been writing fiction for young adults for nearly five decades. Her books include The Uncivil War ; Shooting Star: A Novel About Annie Oakley; and Little Women Next Door. Ms. Klass lives in New York City. more

VALERIE GLADSTONE is a biographer of George Balanchine, and has been writing about the arts for twenty years. She has published articles on dance in The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Washington Post, Travel & Leisure, and Dance magazine. She lives in New York City.... more

HOPE ANITA SMITH is the author of the award-winning books The Way a Door Closes and Keeping the Night Watch. A professional storyteller and in-school poet, Hope teaches poetry-writing workshops to all grade levels. She lives in Los Angeles, California. more

DEBBI CHOCOLATE is the author of more than twenty picture books, including The Piano Man, which received the Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Award, and Talk, Talk: An Ashanti Legend, winner of the Parents’ Choice Award. She lives outside Chicago with her family.... more

LEE BANTLE is the author of the middle-grade novel Diving for the Moon. He is an attorney and lives in New York City. more

NANCY COFFELT is the author and illustrator of several books, including Dogs in Space and The Dog Who Cried Woof. She is also the author of Fred Stays with Me, illustrated by Tricia Tusa, which was named an ALA Notable Book. Nancy’s work is shown in galleries nationwide.... more

DEBBIE OUELLET has had her work published in children’s magazines and journals. This is her first book for young readers. She lives in Loretto, Ontario, Canada. NICOLETTA CECCOLI is the award-winning illustrator of many books for children, including The Girl in the Castle... more

JIM TOBIN is an award-winning biographer and the author of Ernie Pyle’s War and To Conquer the Air. He lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan. DAVE COVERLY is a nationally syndicated cartoonist whose Speed Bump cartoons appear in more than 200 newspapers, including The Washington... more

ANNA ALTER has written and illustrated several children’s book, including Estelle and Lucy. She is also the illustrator of The Purple Ribbon. Anna studied illustration at the Rhode Island School of Design, worked as a preschool teacher for several years, and now teaches... more

ELISE BROACH is the author of the ALA Notable Book Shakespeare’s Secret and Desert Crossing. She holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in history from Yale University. She lives with her family in Easton, Connecticut.  KELLY MURPHY has illustrated many books for... more

Charlotte Agell is the author of Welcome Home, Or Someplace Like It. She grew up in Sweden, Canada, and Hong Kong, and has always been drawn to the northern reaches. An art educator for the past ten years, she lives in Brunswick, Maine with her family. more

MEG MEDINA has published adult stories about the Latino experience. She lives in Richmond, Virginia, with her family. more

MARGI PREUS lives in Duluth,Minnesota, where a replica of the Peace Bell now resides. HIDEKO TAKAHASHI is the illustrator of many books for children, including Come to My Party and Other Shape Poems and In My New Yellow Shirt. She lives in Seattle, Washington. more

LAURIE KELLER is the popular author and illustrator of Do Unto Otters: A Book About Manners; Grandpa Gazillion’s Number Yard; Arnie, the Doughnut; Open Wide: Tooth School Inside; and The Scrambled States of America. She lives in North Muskegon, Michigan. more

RALPH COVERT is the grammy-nominated creator of Ralph’s World, the popular children’s line of music which includes seven CDs and two DVDs. He can be seen regularly in his music videos on the Playhouse Disney Channel. When he’s not touring around the country, Ralph lives in... more