Author and illustrator Jennifer Owings Dewey was raised in New Mexico, but graduated from high school in California. She attended the Rhode Island School of Design and the University of New Mexico. Her writing career shows her deep attachment to the natural world and an interest in wilderness and unique environments. She received a grant from the National Science Foundation for a four-month stay in Antarctica, where she sketched and photographed the landscape and wildlife and kept a detailed journal of her experiences. She received the Orbis Pictus Award for Wildlife Rescue: The Work of Dr. Kathleen Ramsay, the John Burroughs Award for Mud Matters, and the National Science Teachers… Association Award for her body of work in the field of nonfiction for children. She currently lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.