The idea for writing the Santa Mouse stories came to Michael Brown (1920-2014) while holding piece of children's pajama fabric featuring a tiny Christmas mouse. He went to work creating the character that was to become Santa's little helper. In addition to writing stories about Santa Mouse, Michael Brown performed his own songs in cabaret and was a composer/lyricist and producer/director in the theater. Robert McPhillips has been involved in a wide variety of projects over the years--from illustrating greeting cards to animation, though he especially loves illustrating children's books. Robert makes his home in North Devon, England, with his wife, Sam.