Laurel Croza lived near four dam sites when she was a child, moving nine times and attending six schools before she was fourteen. I Know Here, her first book, is based on her memories of leaving Saskatchewan for Toronto. A sequel, From There to Here, also illustrated by Matt James, will be published by Groundwood in spring 2014. Laurel lives with her family in Toronto.
Matt James is a noted painter, illustrator and musician. His first picture book, Yellow Moon, Apple Moon by Pamela Porter, won the New Mexico Book Award and was a finalist for a Governor General’s Award. I Know Here by Laurel Croza, won the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award and the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award, and was a finalist for the Governor General’s Award, the TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award, the Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children’s Book Award and the Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon Illustrator’s Award. Matt lives in Toronto.