I was born and grew up in Toronto. My love of books began after our TV blew up when I was about three. My family turned to reading. There was nothing I loved more than snuggling into a warm lap to hear a story. It wasn't long before I learned to read on my own so I didn't have to wait for someone else to tell me what happened next. Then, of course, I began to make up my own stories and I've been doing it ever since.

The rest of the time I spent climbing trees, riding bikes with my friends and making objects that went with my stories.

Two high school teachers led me further into the world of reading and encouraged me to write. When I wasn't writing, I played guitar and sang in a rock band called the RADS. We had a huge amount of fun playing loud music at high school dances. And I continued to writeÑlyrics to songs that we played on stage.

After high school, I studied photography and worked as a photographer in Toronto. Then I got married and had two boys. Not long after our younger son was born we moved to New Hampshire in the USA. There, I worked on a sheep farm. It was a world of fresh wonders: seeing newborn lambs, driving tractors and herding sheep.

Now back in Toronto with my family, I feel like the luckiest person alive to be writing for children. Entering other worlds through a story still feels magical to me. Lily and the Paper Man is my first published book.

How to Contact: e-mail rebecca.upjohn@gmail.com
Web site: rebeccaupjohn.com

Renné grew up with an older brother and younger sister in Nepean, Ontario. For as long as she can remember, she has loved to draw and paint. When people asked what she wanted to be when she grew up, she always replied "an artist", even after several suggestions to think of something else.

After some graphic design training, Renné decided what she really wanted to be was an illustrator. Her first big project was "Black Beauty" for Key Porter Books in 2001. After experimenting with various media, she currently works in watercolour on paper. In 2005, Goodbye to Griffith Street by Marilynn Reynolds was shortlisted for the Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon Award, and won the Christie Harris Illustrated Children's Literature Prize. Most recently, Tale of a Great White Fish by Maggie de Vries won the ASPCA Henry Bergh Children's Book Award, and the Christie Harris Illustrated Children's Literature Prize.

Renné now lives in St. Thomas with her husband, their daughter and their dog. She loves being an illustrator, and can't imagine a better job. Some of her other favorite things are reading, gardening, thunderstorms, and the first snow.

How to Contact: e-mail rennebenoit@hotmail.com
Web site: www.rennebenoit.ca