About Author

Jerry Spinelli started out wanting to be a cowboy. Luckily for young readers, he later decided to become a "writer," even though he's still not sure he can call himself one (he does other things too, like picking berries and skipping stones). But Jerry seems to be pretty good at this writing thing. His first novel, Space Station Seventh Grade, was published with Little, Brown in 1982, and he won a Newbery Medal for Maniac Magee. Now, 28 novels and 17 grandchildren later, Jerry lives in Wayne, Pennsylvania with his wife, who is also a "writer."

When Jimmy Liao was little he wanted to be several things: a painter, a magician, or a train driver. Eventually he became a painter who tries to create magic with pictures. (And who sometimes still dreams of being a train driver.) He is the author and illustrator of over 32 books that have been translated into nine languages worldwide. In a starred review, Publishers Weekly called his first book with Little, Brown, The Sound of Colors, "exuberant." He lives in Taipei, Taiwan with his wife and daughter.