MARCIA THORNTON JONES & DEBBIE DADEY

"Believe it or not, our books about the Bailey School Kids all started with a bad day!" says Debbie Dadey about the genesis of their popular series. She was a librarian and co-author Marcia Thornton Jones was a teacher at the local school.

"One day, the kids at school just did not want to behave. So, we figured if we sprouted horns two feet long, fangs the size of swords, and blew smoke out our ears, the kids would pay attention to us!

"We weren't good friends when we started writing, but we are now. The neatest thing is that we can make anything happen in our stories - that can be fun! In fact, when we're planning our stories, we laugh a lot. Every once in a while, we do have bad days, but now we know exactly how to handle them."

Dadey and Jones live in Colorado and Kentucky, respectively.

ERIC A. KIMMEL

Author Eric Kimmel was born on October 30, 1946 in Brooklyn, New York. He graduated from Lafayette College, in 1967, with a B.A. in English. Three years later, Kimmel earned an M.A. in Education from New York University. He eventually earned his doctorate in education in 1973 from the University of Illinois. Before writing full-time, Kimmel was a professor at Portland State University. Many of his books are retellings of cultural tales and folklore. Currently, Eric lives with his wife, Doris, their dog and two cats in Portland, Oregon. Kimmel's interests include horseback riding, bluegrass banjo, storytelling, folklore and folk literature, and tropical fish.

GORDON KORMAN

Readers adore the hilarious antics of Gordon Korman's memorable characters. But Korman says the process of coming up with wacky adventures for them can be less than fun. "Sometimes an idea can take months to develop - the process can be as enjoyable as having a tooth pulled. I'll add a character here, a plot point there, and I'll finally be ready to start writing. On the other hand, there are times that the whole story just sort of whooshes into my head in a split second…In the end, it doesn't matter how quickly the idea comes or from where, as long as my readers keep laughing."

Korman lives with his wife and son in Great Neck, New York. For more information about Gordon Korman, visit www.gordonkorman.com

KATHRYN LASKY

After majoring in English at college, Lasky wrote for magazines and worked as a teacher. It was while Lasky was teaching that she wrote her first published book. Following a grandfather and his grandson on a typical weekend day, the book was called I Have Four Names for My Grandfather and featured photographs by Lasky's husband, Christopher Knight, with whom she collaborated on a number of books.

Since then, she has written many books -- from historical fiction to picture books to nonfiction -- including Sugaring Time, a Newberry Honor book; The Night Journey, winner of the National Jewish Book Award for Children; Beyond the Burning Time, an ALA Best Book for Young Adults; and True North. She has also received the Washington Post-Children's Book Guild Award for her contribution to children's nonfiction.

Lasky especially loves writing for adolescents and is currently enjoying worldwide success with the Guardians of Ga'Hoole series, published by Scholastic.

PATRICIA LAUBER

Newbery Honor author Patricia Lauber admits "I never liked science in school." Nevertheless, she has written more than 90 nonfiction books, on subject from earthworms to meteorites, for beginning to adolescent readers. The greatest challenge, she says, "is finding the right kind of subject, and presenting it to a child so it's understandable and accurate, but also interesting." And the greatest satisfaction Lauber receives? "When I've finished…and I know in my heart that it's good."

Patricia Lauber lives in southwestern California.

URSULA K. LeGUIN

The work of the highly acclaimed novelist Ursula LeGuin defies easy categorization. Is it science fiction, fantasy, or magical realism? Is it for adults or for children?

Such questions do not bother LeGuin. Eternally fascinated by landscapes and societies, by myths and dreams, her only concern is creating intriguing worlds for her readers. "Kid stuff? Sure," says one reviewer, "if children are the only ones who need stories that remind us of the firelight flickering on the walls of the cave."

The daughter of anthropologist Alfred L. Kroeber and author Theodora Kroeber (Ishi in Two Worlds), and the mother of three grown children, LeGuin lives in Portland, Oregon.

TRACY MACK

Tracy Mack's first novel, Drawing Lessons, was named a Booklist Top Ten First Novel for Young Adults, a New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age, a Bank Street College Best Book and a Teen People Next Award Finalist. Birdland, her second novel, has garnered praise from Walter Dean Myers, Mary Pope Osborne and Julia Alvarez, who wrote, "Birdland by Tracy Mack is a complex and tender book. A touching portrait of a boy healing from the loss of a family member within the context of New York City healing after the September 11th tragedy. It's a little book that knows so much. Guaranteed to put tears in the eyes and wings in the hearts of its readers."

Tracy grew up in a one-square-mile village near the Hudson River, just north of New York City. Tracy studied literature and art history at the University of Pennsylvania and has worked as a camp counselor, a waitress, an English teacher in Spain, and an editor. She is also a devoted yogini, a champion jacks player, a passionate mountain climber, a novice potter, and a very enthusiastic dancer. She and her husband divide their time between Brooklyn, New York and the Berkshires. She is currently at work on her third book.

JEANNE MARZOLLO

Jean Marzollo was born in Manchester, CT. She grew up loving poetry and reading. Some of her mother's old poetry volumes were among her favorite things to look at as a child, even though she was too young to read them. She attended the University of Connecticut and then received her Masters in teaching from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. For twenty years she was the editor of Scholastic's kindergarten magazine, Let's Find Out. Jean has written over a hundred books. Her original I Spy series is written completely in rhythm and rhyme. Jean says that children inspire her, and therefore she loves to visit schools and meet her readers. She was the recipient of the 2000 Rip Van Winkle Award presented by the School Library Media Specialists of Southeastern New York.

LISA McCOURT & CYD MOORE

Although separated by six states, Lisa McCourt and Cyd Moore make a great children's book team.

Lisa McCourt has worked in children's publishing since 1986, first as an editor, then as a packager and ultimately as an author. She lives in South Florida with her husband, Greg, and their children Tucker and Lily Kate. McCourt has worked closely with many amazing artists, and she and Cyd Moore (who illustrated all the Stinky Face books) have become fast cyber-friends.

Cyd More has worked in the advertising industry and her artwork has appeared in newspapers, magazines, on video and compact disc covers, and even McDonald's Happy Meal boxes. A Georgia farm girl who enjoys yoga and martial arts, Moore now resides in Michigan with her two sons.

For more information visit http://www.lisamccourt.com and http://www.cydmoore.com

PATRICIA C. & FREDRICK L. McKISSACK

Award-winning co-authors Patricia and Fredrick McKissack have a reputation for creating well-researched books that bring African-American history and heroes to life vividly and candidly.

"One of the reasons we write for children is to introduce them to African and African-American history and historical figures, and to get them to internalize the information not just academically, but also emotionally. We want them to feel the tremendous amount of hurt and sadness that racism and discrimination cause all people, regardless of race."

The McKissacks live outside of St. Louis, Missouri.

JIM MURPHY

Jim Murphy, an acclaimed author of nonfiction books for children including the Newbery Honor Book, The Great Fire, grew up in Kearny, New Jersey. "I didn't read much until I was 12. Once I started to read, it became a passion. I would and still do read just about anything I can get my hands on…If I become interested in the subject, I will read book after book about it. And every so often, all of this reading gets my gray matter really energized and results in my writing a book…One of my goals in writing about events from the past is to show that children weren't just observers of our history. They were actual participants and sometimes did amazing things."

Murphy and his family live in Maplewood, New Jersey.

JON J. MUTH

For most of his life, Jon J Muth has been immersed in the arts. Educated - or as he says, "self taught and still learning" - as a painter, he had his first one-man exhibit when he was just 18 years old. In addition to his award-winning picture books for Scholastic Press, he is also internationally renowned for his comic books and graphic novels.

The father of two children, Muth lives in Kingston, New York, where he spends time "chasing the clouds from his brushes."

CHRISTOPHER MYERS

Christopher Myers may have inherited some of his talent from his father, Walter Dean Myers, or his grandfather, who "was a storyteller," says Myers. "His thick callused hands told stories. My father tells stories. I tell stories.

"Illustrating children's books is a trip. So many people are starving for images. [There is an] image famine in African America. I think we are learning how important images are, how much they do."

Myers's book, Harlem, which he collaborated on with his father, was named a Caldecott Honor Book. In reviewing it, Booklist observed that "the artist sees a concrete city composed of "colors loud enough to be heard." This talented artist, who works in collages, photos, and woodcuts, graduated from Brown University and completed the independent study program at the Whitney Museum of American Art. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.

WALTER DEAN MYERS

Walter Dean Myers, the author of two Newbery Honor Books and one of America's premier writers for young adults, was born in West Virginia and grew up in Harlem. "My ideas come largely from my own background. I write a lot about basketball…I was in the army, and I wrote Fallen Angels. I lived in Harlem, and I wrote about Harlem. I'm interested in history, so I write about historical characters in nonfiction. What I want to do with my writing is to make connections - to touch the lives of my characters and, through them, those of my readers.

Myers lives with his wife in Jersey City, New Jersey.

MARY POPE OSBORNE

When Mary Pope Osborne was a young child, her father, an army colonel, was stationed in Salzburg, Austria. Across the street from their house was an ancient castle perched on a cliff. Fairy tales came to life when she imagined the magic of Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty was taking place right in her own neighborhood! Now an acclaimed spinner of tales in her own right, Osborne considers herself a professional daydreamer. "With my writing, I can still play inside an enchanted castle or live inside an old fort. I can run from ghosts or ride dolphins any day of the week.

She lives in New York City.