About the Author

Martha Hamilton & Mitch Weiss Bio: Martha Hamilton and Mitch Weiss are a husband-and-wife writing and storytelling team known as "Beauty and the Beast Storytellers." They have traveled the world sharing their passion for the oral tradition and the art of telling great stories. They have co-authored thirteen books and two audio recordings with August House. A number of their books have won prestigious awards including the Irma Simonton Black and James H. Black Award for Excellence in Children's Literature (awarded by Bank Street College of Education), Parents' Choice Award, National Parenting Publications Awards, and Storytelling World Award. Mitch and Martha's story collections include world tales that they tell in a conversational manner so that children can easily comprehend and then share the stories by telling them to other students. Parents and teachers can find a wealth of information on how to get children excited about reading, telling world tales, and making up their own stories at Mitch and Martha's website. John Kanzler Bio: John Kanzler grew up in Norwalk, Connecticut in a house formerly belonging to William Steig's and he currently lives on a small farm in Greenfield, Massachusetts with his wife Diane and his daughter Lorelei. They have several sheep and a llama or two. He has been drawing on things as far back as he can remember and is a completely self-taught artist. When he is not pursuing his art or spending time with his family on their farm, he generally pursues a crazy, eclectic range of interests, from astronomy to paleontology.