Harriet Ziefert is a graduate of Smith College, with a Master's degree in Education from New York University, where she was among the founding pioneers in the development and teaching practice that became know as the Common Core Curriculum. Since then, she has written more than 200 books. As publisher of Blue Apple Books, she released over 500 titles, including many non-fiction concept books, many of which have become modern classics. The mother of two and grandmother of five, Ziefert lives in the Berkshires of Massachusetts. Simms Taback won a Caldecott Honor Award for There Was an Old Woman Who Swallowed a Fly and the Caldecott Medal for Joseph Had a Little Overcoat , of which Horn Book wrote, "The art sings with color and movement and humor and personality." His collaboration with Harriet Ziefert for produced more than a dozen books, including many bestselling pre-school concept books and picture books such as When I First Came to This Land (Putnam) and Two Little Witches (Candlewick). Simms Taback pass away in 2011 at the age of 79.