Esperanza Ramirez-Christensen is a professor at the University of Michigan and an award-winning teacher and scholar of classical Japanese literature. She has written extensively on the subjects of Japanese poets and poetry and Buddhist philosophy.

Tracy Gallup is an author, illustrator and lifelong artist. She has a BFA from Eastern Michigan University and an MFA in painting from Syracuse University. Tracy worked as an elementary school art teacher for many years, and celebrates imagination and childhood in her own artwork. She is the author and illustrator of 9 children's books, including Paint the Night, A Roomful of Questions, four books in A Crazy Little series, King Cat, and also illustrated the book Beastly Banquet. She lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan with her husband. As a child, Tracy had and loved her very own collection of Tuttle books.