A Gelett Burgess Children's Book Award recipient and California Federation of Chaparral Poets honoree, Mary, grew up in the forested communities of Humboldt and Trinity Counties of Northern California. She has worked in photography, education, publishing, and liturgical design. Her career in children's literature focuses on nature and environmental education. Mary's outdoor life activities of wildlife photography, hunting, gardening, gold mining, and rock hounding keep her close to nature. She and her husband, Tim, have two sons and three grandchildren. www.maryalivingston.com A Registered Professional Forester, Tim works and lives in rural Northern California. His career in natural resources spans over 40 years. He considers his forestry career an awesome job and likes that his desk is the hood of his truck and the trees in the forest his office walls. His love of the outdoors includes wildlife photography, hunting, gardening, gold mining, and rock hounding. As an artist, he started as most with a set of crayons. Then in his teens, comic books increased his interest in creating art. Watercolor is his favorite artistic media followed closely by pen and ink and photography. Tim draws on his extensive forestry experience for accuracy in his art.