Ellen Raskin was born and raised in Milwaukee and educated at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, where she majored in art. In 1966 she gave up a successful career as a freelance artist to write and illustrate children's books. She was the author of several other novels, including Newbery Honor-winning Figgs & Phantoms , The Mysterious Disappearance of Leon (I Mean Noel) , and The Tattooed Potato and Other Clues. She was awarded the Newbery Medal in 1979 for The Westing Game . She also wrote and illustrated many picture books and was an accomplished graphic artist. She designed dust jackets for dozens of books, including the first edition of Madeleine L'Engle's classic A Wrinkle In Time . Ms. Raskin died at the age of fifty-six on August 8, 1984, in New York City.

Her books are wildly imaginative, but nonetheless touch on the autobiographical. Although Ellen Raskin was never rich, she always had hope - if only the stock market had played the game. Mac Barnett is a New York Times bestselling author of more than forty books for children, including the Jack early reader series and the T errible Two middle-grade series and several beloved picture books, including: Extra Yarn and Sam & Dave Dig a Hole . His picture books have won many prizes, including two Caldecott Honors, three E. B. White Read Aloud Awards, the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, the Chen Bochui International Children's Literature in Award in China, and the Premio Orbil in Italy. Mac lives in Oakland, California.