Kimberly Willis Holt is the author of the Piper Reed series, including Piper Reed, Navy Brat , Piper Reed, Clubhouse Queen , and Piper Reed, Rodeo Star . She has written many award-winning novels, including The Water Seeker and My Louisiana Sky , as well as the picture books Waiting for Gregory and Skinny Brown Dog . A former Navy brat herself, Holt was born in Pensacola, Florida, and lived all over the U.S. and the world - from Paris to Norfolk to Guam to New Orleans. Holt long dreamed of being a writer, but first worked as a radio news director, marketed a water park, and was an interior decorator, among other jobs. A few years after she started writing, her third book, When Zachary Beaver Came to Town , won a National Book Award for Young People's Literature. She resides in West Texas with her family.

Donald Saaf , a graduate of the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, has illustrated many highly acclaimed books for children, as well as a CD cover for children's singer Dan Zanes. He lives in Vermont with his family.