Kimberly Willis Holt is the author of many books for children and young adults, including the National Book Award-winning When Zachary Beaver Came to Town and the Piper Reed series. Her picture books include Waiting for Gregory, Skinny Brown Dog, and The Adventures of Granny Clearwater and Little Critter. She lives in Texas with her family.
Kyrsten Brooker is the illustrator of Runaway Dreidel! and Math Attack!, among other picture books. She lives in Edmonton, Canada.
Kimberly Willis Holt is the author of the Piper Reed series, including
Piper Reed, Navy Brat,
Piper Reed, Clubhouse Queen, and
Piper Reed, Rodeo Star. She has written many award-winning novels, including
The Water Seeker and
My Louisiana Sky, as well as the picture books
Waiting for Gregory and
Skinny Brown Dog. A former Navy brat herself, Holt was born in Pensacola, Florida, and lived all over the U.S. and the world—from Paris to Norfolk to Guam to New Orleans. Holt long dreamed of being a writer, but first worked as a radio news director, marketed a water park, and was an interior decorator, among other jobs. A few years after she started writing, her third book,
When Zachary Beaver Came to Town, won a National Book Award for Young People's Literature. She resides in West Texas with her family.
I was born in Illinois, and I grew up in western Canada (Edmonton and Calgary, Alberta). I have always loved drawing and painting, but didn’t think I could make a career out of it, so I studied interior design at the University of Manitoba and graduated in 1985. After working a short period as an interior designer, I decided I’d never be happy unless I gave illustration a shot. I enrolled in the illustration associate degree program at Pratt Institute in 1989. I have worked as a freelance illustrator since graduating in 1991.
Kyrsten Brooker previously collaborated on Henry’s Amazing Machine, which Kirkus Reviews praised, saying “readers will be mesmerized,” and School Library Journal said “begs to be read aloud.” Ms. Brooker lives in Edmonton, Canada.