Eve Bunting was born in 1928 in Maghera, Ireland, as Anne Evelyn Bunting. She graduated from Northern Ireland's Methodist College in Belfast in 1945 and then studied at Belfast's Queen's College. She emigrated with her family in 1958 to California, and became a naturalized citizen in 1969. That same year, she began her writing career, and in 1972, her first book, "The Two Giants" was published. In 1976, "One More Flight" won the Golden Kite Medal, and in 1978, "Ghost of Summer" won the Southern California's Council on Literature for Children and Young People's Award for fiction. "Smokey Night" won the American Library Association's Randolph Caldecott Medal in 1995 and "Winter's Coming" was… voted one of the 10 Best Books of 1977 by the New York Times. Bunting is involved in many writer's organizations such as P.E.N., The Authors Guild, the California Writer's Guild and the Society of Children's Book Writers. She has published stories in both Cricket, and Jack and Jill Magazines, and has written over 150 books in various genres such as children's books, contemporary, historic and realistic fiction, poetry, nonfiction and humor.
Lynn Munsinger was born December 24, 1951 in Greenfield, Massachusetts. She attended Tufts University and graduated in 1974. The following year she enrolled at the Rhode Island School of Design, majoring in illustration. She received her degree in 1977 and continued her studies in London. She has illustrated more than a dozen popular books for Houghton Mifflin Company. Since 1978, she has illustrated over 70 children's books for over 25 different authors, but is best well known for her partnership with Helen Lester. Munsinger and Lester have been together since first publishing The Wizard, the Fairy, and the Magic Chicken in 1983 with Houghton Mifflin Company and Walter Lorraine, their… editor. They have collaborated on the Tacky the Penguin series and many other popular titles including the award-winning Hooway for Wodney Wat. Lynn Munsinger is a full-time illustrator.