Patricia Polacco was born in Lansing, Michigan on July 11, 1944. Her and her family lived in Michigan for a while, but after her grandmother died in 1949, the family moved first to Florida and then to California. Polocco attended Oakland Tech High School in Oakland, California before heading off to the California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland, then Laney Community College in Oakland. She then set off for Monash University, Mulgrave, Australia and the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Melbourne, Australia where she received her PhD in Art History, Emphasis on Iconography After college, Polacco restored ancient pieces of art for museums. She didn't start writing children's… books until she was 41 years old. She began writing down the stories that were in her head, and was then encouraged to join the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. There she learned how to put together a dummy and get a story into the form of a children's picture book. Her mother paid for a trip to New York, where the two visited 16 publishers in one week. Polacco submitted everything she had to more than one house. By the time she returned home the following week, she had sold just about everything. Polacco has won the 1988 Sydney Taylor Book Award for The Keeping Quilt, and the 1989 International Reading Association Award for Rechenkas Eggs. She was inducted into the Author's Hall of Fame by the Santa Clara Reading Council in 1990, and received the Commonwealth Club of California's Recognition of Excellence that same year for Babushkas Doll, and again in 1992 for Chicken Sunday. She also won the Golden Kite Award for Illustration from the Society of Childrens Book Writers and Illustrators for Chicken Sunday in 1992, as well as the Boston Area Educators for Social Responsibility Childrens Literature and Social Responsibility Award. In 1993, Polacco won the Jane Adams Peace Assoc. and Womens Intl. League for Peace and Freedom Honor award for Mrs. Katz and Tush for its effective contribution to peace and social justice. Polacco has won Parents Choice Honors for Some Birthday in 1991, the video Dream Keeper in 1997 and Thank You Mr. Falker in 1998. In 1996, she won the Jo Osborne Award For Humor in Childrens Literature
Lawrence Migdale takes photographs of children in their own enviroments. He lives in Orinda, California, with his wife and two sons.