Mac Barnett was named the 2025?26 National Ambassador for Young People's Literature by the Library of Congress. He's the author of more than sixty books for children, including Sam & Dave Dig a Hole, illustrated by Jon Klassen, which won a Caldecott Honor and the E. B. White Read Aloud Award. Mac's books include the First Cat in Space graphic novels and the picture book A Polar Bear in the Snow, all illustrated by Shawn Harris. He lives in Oakland, California.

Shawn Harris is the author-illustrator of Have You Ever Seen a Flower?, which won a Caldecott Honor, and the Teeny-Weeny Unicorn picture books. Shawn has illustrated many other books for kids, including the Newbery Medal?winning The Eyes & the Impossible by Dave Eggers and a bunch of books by Mac Barnett, as mentioned in the bio above. Shawn lives not far from Mac, in Half Moon Bay, California.