About the Author

Lorenz Graham was among the earliest African-American authors to write books for children, regardless of race or ethnicity. He had spotted that mainstream ideas about Africa were often based on stereotyping, which led him to base his portrayals of Africans from a realistic viewpoint instead of the stereotypes of the time. NORMAN NODEL (Nochem Yeshaya) was a noted artist and illustrator of children's books and magazines. Nodel began his illustrious career as a field artist in the army, drawing military maps during World War II. After the war, he pursued a successful career as an artist in a variety of styles, notably illustrating a great many issues in the famous 'Classics Illustrated' series in the 1950s. In the 1940s, he had previously been an assistant to George Marcoux, and he has done comic book art for True Comics and Sun Publications. His contributions to 'Classics Illustrated' varied from 'Ivanhoe' to 'Faust' and 'The Invisible Man'. He was also a regular on Charlton's teen, horror and romance titles of the 1960s and 1970s. In the 1960s he contributed to the Warren magazines Eerie and Creepy, using the pen name Donald Norman. During the last twelve years of his life, Mr. Norman Nodel devoted a major amount of his time and energy to illustrating books and magazines specifically for Jewish children, which gave him great pleasure and satisfaction. Norman Nodel worked to the last day of his life. He died on the 25th of February, 2000.