Dandi Daley Mackall received an undergraduate degree from the University of Missouri. She is an author of books for both children and adults and has published more than 450 titles. Her books include Eva Underground, Love Rules, Kindred Sisters, Just One of Me, Rudy Rides the Rails, and the I'm Not Afraid series. She is has won several awards for her writing, including the Helen Keating Ott Award for Contributions to Children's Literature and a two Mom's Choice Awards.
Guy's first successful Christmas drawing was in third grade. His teacher, Mrs. Passarelli, had instructed the class to draw Christmas trees. Upon seeing Guy's drawing, she stopped him and told him, "That's perfect, don't do anything more! Don't touch it anymore!" She held Guy's drawing up to the class as an example of how a Christmas tree should look - an encouraging first encounter with an art director.