CARY FAGAN's kids' books include the popular Kaspar Snit novels, the two-volume Master Melville's Medicine Show and the picture books Thing-Thing, Ella May and the Wishing Stone and I Wish I Could Draw. Mr. Zinger's Hat, another of his picture books, was awarded the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award and the IODE Jean Throop Award. He recently won the Vicky Metcalf Award for Literature for Young People for his body of work. His books have been translated into nine languages. Cary is also the author of six novels and three story collections for adults. He was born and raised in Toronto, where he continues to live with his family.

Up-and-coming illustrator MADELINE KLOEPPER, a graduate of Emily Carr University of Art and Design, brings wise-beyond-her-years illustrations full of sweetness and curiosity to her debut picture book. Madeline grew up in the lower mainland of British Columbia amidst a sea of humans and spent a few years in Vancouver; she has since migrated northward to Prince George. Her work is influenced by childhood, nostalgia and the relationships we forge with nature, no doubt inspired by her love of exploring the Pacific Northwest.