Mary Quattlebaum grew up in the country surrounded by woods and fields and with a pond like Jo MacDonald's. She first learned about plants and wildlife by helping tend her family's large vegetable garden and planting wildlife gardens as 4-H projects. Mary now lives in Washington, DC, where she and her family enjoy watching the birds, squirrels, butterflies, and other wild visitors to their backyard habitat. She is the author of many children's books and loves visiting schools and talking with kids. See her website, www.maryquattlebaum.com.

Laura J. Bryant has illustrated numerous award-winning children's books, including God Gave Us You, Smudge Bunny, and If You Were My Baby. She studied painting, printmaking, and sculpture at the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore and lives in Asheville, North Carolina.