Stuart J. Murphy is a visual learning specialist. A graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, he has a strong background in design and art direction. He also has extensive experience in the world of educational publishing. Drawing on all these talents, Stuart J. Murphy brings a unique perspective to the MathStart series. In MathStart books, pictures do more than tell stories; they teach math.Stuart J. Murphy and his wife, Nancy, live in Boston.
Children's author and illustrator, G. Brian Karas was born in Milford, Connecticut in 1957. After graduating from Paier School of Art, he worked as a greeting card artist and a commercial illustrator. Home on the Bayou, a Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor, was his first illustrated book. Since then, he has illustrated over seventy books for children. Titles authored and/or illustrated by Karas have won numerous other awards. Saving Sweetness written by Diane Stanley was a Capitol Choices Noteworthy Book for Children in 1996, received a Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books Blue Ribbon in 1996, and was a School Library Journal Best Book of 1996. Like Butter on Pancakes by Jonathan London… was a School Library Journal Best Book of 1995. The Class Artist, written and illustrated by Karas, was a Smithsonian Magazine's Notable Book for Children in 2001 and received the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio 2002 Best Book Gold Award.