Nancy White Carlstrom has written over sixty books for children, including Before You Were Born (Eerdmans), Mama, Will It Snow Tonight? (Boyds Mills Press), and the bestselling Jesse Bear series (Scholastic). Counting Winter was shaped by the nineteen years Nancy and her family called Alaska home. She currently lives in the Seattle area and enjoys seeing Alaskan wildlife--and her grandchildren--on trips back to the state. Visit her website at nancywhitecarlstrom.com. Lori McElrath-Eslick is a freelance illustrator whose work appears regularly in Ladybug magazine. She has illustrated several picture books for children. Lori lives in North Muskegon, Michigan.