Artist and freelance illustrator Dan Yaccarino graduated from the Parsons School of Design in New York in 1987. Yaccarino's work has appeared in periodicals such as Rolling Stone, Playboy and New York magazine. AT&T, Mount Gay Rum, Gardenburger and other companies have used his images and illustrations in their advertising. In 1993, Yaccarino published his first children's book, Big Brother Mike, and has since written or illustrated almost twenty more children's books.