John Cech is a professor of English, teaching courses in children’s literature at the University of Florida in Gainesville. He is also the director of the Center for Children’s Literature and Culture. John has served as a judge for theNew York Times Best Illustrated Books of the Year and the Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards, was president of the Children’s Literature Association, and won the Chandler Award of Merit for his work in children’s literature. He has written seven books in the Classic Fairy Tale Collection for Sterling, in addition to retellings of Aesop's Fables, illustrated by Martin Jarrie, and The Nutcracker, illustrated by Eric Puybaret. He lives in Gainesville, FL, with his wife, Eve.
Martin Hargreaves lives in Sussex, England. He studied art at Brighton in East Sussex and has been working as a freelance illustrator for over 25 years. He now lives with his wife and daughter and various animals in an ancient, ramshackle cottage in the English countryside.
