SHUTTA CRUM was a children's librarian for more than 20 years and was awarded the Michigan Library Association's Award of Merit as youth librarian of the year. She is the author of many picture books, chapter books, and novels for young readers, including The Bravest of the Brave, illustrated by Tim Bowers, and Thomas and the Dragon Queen, with black-and-white drawings by Lee Wildish.
PATRICE BARTON has been an artist since she was three, when she created a mural on the dining room wall with a pastry brush and a can of Crisco. Today she is the illustrator of numerous picture books, including Sweet Moon Baby, written by Karen Henry Clark.