Lesléa Newman is the author of fifty books for adults and children, including Abrams' Eight Nights of Chanukah. She has received many literary awards, including poetry fellowships from the Massachusetts Artists Fellowship Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. She lives in Holyoke, Massachusetts. Julia Gorton is the illustrator and designer of many books for children, including Abrams' Score! 50 Poems to Motivate and Inspire. She teaches design at Parsons the New School for Design and lives in Glen Ridge, New Jersey.