Joan Schoettler grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area. She earned a Masters degree in Reading and Writing from the University of San Francisco, and is a member of Society for Childrens Book Writers & Illustrators (SCBWI) and the American Library Association. Traci Van Wagoner earned bachelor of fine arts degrees in illustration and advertising design from Utah State University and in toy design from the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. In addition to book illustration, Van Wagoner writes, designs toys and characters, and paints portraits. She is a long-standing member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. Van Wagoner lives in New York City, where she and her husband run their product development company, Imagine That! Design.