Prolific writer Gwen Strauss received her BA from Hampshire College and her MS from Wheelock College. On a trip to the US Consulate in Marseille, Strauss saw a photo of her great-great-uncle Danny Benedite and was inspired to tell her own children-and children around the world-the story of his heroism. This is her fourth children's book. Herb Leonhard received a BFA in illustration from the Pacific Northwest College of Art. His award-winning work has appeared in D Magazine, among other publications. He is the illustrator of several other Pelican books, including St. Patrick and the Three Brave Mice, Way Out West on My Little Pony, A Southern Child's Garden of Verses, Leonardo's Monster, I Know a Librarian Who Chewed on a Word, A Is for Alliguitar: Musical Alphabeasts, and Southern Mother Goose. Leonhard lives in Prosser, Washington.