Biographical note

Emma Bland Smith is the award-winning author of thirteen books for children. Her first book, Journey: Based on the True Story of OR7, the Most Famous Wolf in the West, won Bank Street College’s Cook Prize and Northland College’s SONWA award. Emma is a librarian and lives in San Francisco with her husband, two kids, dog, and cat. Emma finds inspiration in the beautiful world around her, and believes that one of the best things about being an author is getting to visit wonderful places--and then craft stories about them. Visit her online at emmabsmith.com and on Twitter at @emmablandsmith. Lia Visirin was born in a small town in Transylvania, Romania, where she now lives with her husband and many houseplants. She has a bachelor’s degree in traditional graphic arts but is a self-taught children’s book illustrator. Lia gets inspiration from nature, old photographs, and childhood memories, which transform into wonderfully whimsical illustrations.