Astrid Lindgren (1907-2002) was born in Sweden. After college, she worked in a newspaper office and a Swedish publishing house. Her most famous and beloved book, Pippi Longstocking, was originally published in Swedish in 1950, and was later translated into many other languages. It was followed by two sequels, Pippi Goes on Board and Pippi in the South Seas. Ms. Lindgren had a long, prolific career, writing more than one hundred picture books, poems, short stories, plays, screenplays, and novels. In 1958, she won the Hans Christian Andersen Medal, the highest international award in children's literature.

Mini Grey is the creator of the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award-winning picture book Traction Man Is Here! as well as Traction Man Meets Turbo Dog and Traction Man and the Beach Odyssey. Collectively, the three Traction Man books have received fifteen starred reviews. Her brilliant, quirky humor can also be seen in Toys in Space, Three by the Sea, and Ginger.