Sydney Hoff, a well-known cartoonist, author, and illustrator of books for children and young adults, was born in 1912 New York City and raised in the Bronx. His young adult novel, Irving and Me, was named one of the 10 best books for children by the New York Times. Hoff first became interested in drawing as a child. Although he dropped out of public school, he later attended the National Academy of Design in New York City, where he studied to become a serious painter. However, at the age of 18 he sold his first cartoon to The New Yorker; this launched his career as a cartoonist. Hoff has also drawn cartoon advertisements for CBS and has written short mysteries for popular mystery… magazines. One of his earliest and most enduringly popular works is Danny and the Dinosaur, published in 1958. He wrote this book to entertain one of his daughters who was sick. Hoff's audience is, for the most part, the young child who likes clear illustrations, friendly animals, and a limited text. Hoff died of pneumonia on May 12, 2004 in Miami, Florida. He and his wife, Dora, had two children.
Peter Lerangis was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1955. He graduated from Harvard University with a degree in biochemistry. He moved to New York and began working as an actor in musical theater and a freelance copy editor, before becoming a full-time author. He wrote the award-winning six-book sci-fi/mystery series Watchers, and the two-book survival epic, Antarctica. His recent works include the novels WTF and Somebody, Please Tell Me Who I Am, which won the ALA 2012 Scheinder award, as well as the series, The 39 Clues and Seven Wonders. His title Lost in Babylon made The New York Times Best Seller List for 2013 and Tomb of Shadows made the list in 2014.