Joanne Ryder studied journalism at Marquette University. For several years she was an editor of children's books in New York, before she quit to write full-time. Ryder is an award-winning author whose books offer a unique blend of poetry and science. Her Just for a Day series invites children into the world of wild animals, ranging from a sea otter to Tyrannosaurus rex. Ryder's book, The Snail�s Spell, won a New York Academy of Sciences Book Award. She has been named three times in the annual list of Outstanding Science Trade Books for Children by a joint committee of the Children�s Book Council and the National Science Teachers Association.
Peter Catalanotto was born in March 1959 in Brooklyn, NY, and grew up in East Northport, Long Island. Catalanotto was educated at the Pratt Institute; his career as an illustrator began in the 1980s, painting jackets for young adult books and illustrating for newspapers and magazines. In 1987 he was asked to illustrate All I See by Cynthia Rylant. Peter then went on to write several picture books, the first being Dylan's Day Out, published in 1989. He has since published over 40 books, 14 of which he also wrote, including Matthew A. B. C., Emily's Art, Ivan the Terrier, and Question Boy Meets Little Miss Know-it-All.