Author and illustrator Ruth Sanderson was born in Ware, Massachusetts on November 24, 1951. She graduated from the Paier School of Art in 1974. She has illustrated over 70 books and has written and illustrated 12 books. She has won numerous awards including the 1980 National Science Teachers Award for Five Nests, the 1992 Young Hoosier Award and the 1994 Irma S. Black Award for The Enchanted Wood, and the 2003 Texas Bluebonnet Award for The Golden Mare, The Firebird, and the Magic Ring.