Brenda Z. Guiberson has written many books for children, including Cactus Hotel, Spoonbill Swamp, Moon Bear and Disasters . As a child, Brenda never thought she wanted to be a writer - her dreams tended more toward jungle explorer. She graduated from the University of Washington with degrees in English and Fine Art. She started thinking about writing for children when her son went to elementary school, and she volunteered in his class and in the school library. After taking exciting trips that involved a fifty-foot cactus, hungry alligators and sunset-colored spoonbills, she wanted to create books for children that would be like a field trip. Her books are full of well-researched detail, and Brenda sees this research as an adventure - one that allows her to be a jungle explorer at last. She lives in Seattle, Washington. Gennady Spirin was born on Christmas Day in 1948 in a small town near Moscow. He is a graduate of the Stroganov Academy of Fine Arts in Moscow and has received many awards for his work both in the United States and internationally. Books he has illustrated include The Most Amazing Creature in the Sea, Life in the Boreal Forest, Frog Song, The Deadliest Creature in the World, and The Greatest Dinosaur Ever . Mr. Spirin lives in Princeton, New Jersey, with his wife and three sons.