Author and illustrator John Steven Gurney grew up in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. He studied art at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York and drew caricatures on the boardwalk in Atlantic City, New Jersey during the summers. While in college, he won a national poster contest for Molson's Golden Ale which appeared in Rolling Stone magazine. It was seen by the art directors at Ariel Books and led to his first picture book assignment. He is the illustrator of over 100 children's books including all of the titles in The Bailey School Kids and The A to Z Mysteries series. His illustrations have also appeared in children's magazines like Cricket, Babybug, and Ladybird as well as non-children's… magazines like TV Guide and National Lampoon. He also illustrated the board game Guess Who for Milton Bradley. He currently lives in Brattleboro, Vermont with his wife and two children.
Bill Wallacegrew up in Oklahoma. Along with riding their horses, he and his friends enjoyed campouts and fishing trips. Toasting marshmallows, telling ghost stories to scare one another, and catching fish was always fun.One of the most memorable trips took place on the far side of Lake Lawtonka, at the base of Mt. Scott. He and his best friend, Gary, spent the day shooting shad with bow and arrows, cutting bank poles, and getting ready to go when their dads got home from work.Although there was no "monster" in Lake Lawtonka, one night therewasa "sneak attack" by a rather large catfish tail. Checking the bank poles was not nearly as fun or "free" after that point, but it was the inspiration… for this story.Bill Wallace has won nineteen children's state awards and been awarded the Arrell Gibson Lifetime Achievement Award for Children's Literature from the Oklahoma Center for the Book.