Miska Petersham was born in Torokszentmiklos, Hungary on September 20, 1888. He graduated from the Budapest Academy of Art in Hungary and immigrated to the United States in 1912. He worked at the International Art Service, where he met his future wife and life-long illustrating partner, Maud Petersham. The husband-and-wife team illustrated more than 70 books for children, many of which they also wrote. They received the 1946 Caldecott Medal for The Rooster Crows: A Book of American Rhymes and Jingles. Their other works include The Rootabaga Stories by Carl Sandburg, The Box with Red Wheels, and The Christ Child. He died in 1960.Marcelle Clements is the author of Rock Me, a novel, and The… Dog Is Us, essays. Her award-winning essays and articles have appeared in numerous publications, among them the New York Times, Rolling Stone, Elle, and Esquire. She lives in New York City.