Catherine (Cat) Ann Russell, moved to action in 2019 to help address infant and child famine crises, writes and publishes children’s books to support organized emergency relief efforts at home and abroad through her Basketful Relief Project (www.basketfulreliefproject.com). She has published three children’s picture books: Get to Bed!, The Little Book of Why, and award-winning Picco and Wren Three, with an upcoming fourth book, Boo Bear’s Light: An A B C Adventure, due out at the end of the year, 2024. She also writes fantasy-adventure for Tweens called, The Pearls of Wisdom Series. Books 1-4 of this series are published: multiple award-winning The Pond of Reflection, The Hyrax Song, The Zoe-Chai Seed, and The Last Storyteller. In 2002, she owned her own video company, Spike Productions (www.spikeproductions.com), after a career as a research scientist at the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Cat lives in Lyons, CO, with her husband, Ed, and several farm animals, including two burros named Nikki and Norman.

Brooke Connor of Brooke Connor Design (www.brookeconnordesign.com) lives and works in Boulder, CO. She retired from a career as an environmental chemist after 28 years of left-brained activities, and now is a full-time right-brained illustrator. Brooke specializes in alcohol marker illustrations of birds and wildlife. Her style can be described as extremely colorful, imaginative, and whimsical. Other publications include works with her friend and author, Patricia Kittelson, including, Bixley Baines and the Beehive Fence, Bixley Baines and the Recycled Crayons, A Kid's Guide to Bryce Canyon, and Cedar Breaks for Kids.