Margaret Shannon was born in Adelaide, South Australia, and now lives near Nelson, New Zealand. The setting for The Red Wolf is loosely based on the beautiful fortress town of Loket nad Ohr� in the Czech Republic. After discovering the town in her travels, Margaret Shannon returned to live there for seven months and began developing the illustrations for this book.Jane Cutler was born in the Bronx, New York, in 1936. When Jane was six she moved to Clayton, Missouri. In Clayton, Jane she was encouraged to read, draw, participate in drama and sports, and to do what she loved best: to write. Jane went to Northwestern University and graduated in 1958 with a Bachelor's degree in English. In… 1982, she graduated from San Francisco State University with a Master's degree in Creative Writing. In 1993, she published her first book for children. Both Jane and her books have won various awards.