Dayle Ann Dodds is the author of many books for children, including THE KETTLES GET NEW CLOTHES and THE SHAPE OF THINGS. She says, "When I was young, my parents had a ranch with lots of fences to paint. Often my father would wake me up early to go into town to a diner just like Minnie's for a cowboy breakfast — stacks of fluffy buttermilk pancakes piled high to the sky!" John Manders works out of his studio in Pittsburgh, creating artwork for such picture books as SENOR DON GATO. He says of MINNIE'S DINER, "I visited many diners, drank many cups of coffee, and ate many French fries while searching for the perfect diner."