Best known as Arthur's creator, author/illustrator Marc Brown has been working with the beloved aardvark for over twenty-five years. Born one night when Brown was telling a bedtime story to his son, Arthur soon evolved into the book Arthur's Nose, published in 1976. Since then, Brown has written and illustrated more than thirty Arthur and D.W. books, and has illustrated many other books -- including one with his wife, author/illustrator and psychologist, Laurie Krasny Brown. Brown lives in Massachusetts with his wife and young daughter. He also has two grown sons. Brown's own childhood and the experiences of his three children are his main inspiration for the Arthur stories. Peter Brown has always loved telling stories. Growing up in New Jersey, he told stories by drawing whimsical characters and scenes from his imagination. As a teenager, he fell in love with writing and began telling his tales with words. While studying illustration at Art Center College of Design, Peter’s love of both words and pictures led him to take several courses on children’s books, and before long he knew he’d found his calling. Peter has written and illustrated many books for children and earned numerous honors, including a Caldecott Honor, a Horn Book Award, two E.B. White Awards, two E.B. White Honors, a Children’s Choice Award for Illustrator of the Year, two Irma Black Honors, a Golden Kite Award, a New York Times Best Illustrated Book Award and six New York Times bestsellers. Peter lives in Brooklyn, New York. Photo Credit: Andy Ryan Brad Meltzer is the New York Times bestselling author of the Ordinary People Change the World series, Heroes for My Son, Heroes for My Daughter, and a number of suspense novels like The House of Secrets. He is also the host of the History Channel television series Brad Meltzer's Decoded and Brad Meltzer's Lost History. He lives in Florida with his wife and their three children. Photo Credit: Grete Ferguson Peter H. Reynolds is a New York Times best-selling author and illustrator (The Dot, Ish, Sky Color, Judy Moody, The North Star, The Museum, Going Places, Happy Dreamer, creativity advocate, and founder of FableVision, an award-winning educational multimedia development company co-located at the Boston Children’s Museum, as well as FableVision Learning, a K12 educational media & technology publisher based in Dedham, MA. The Dot was named as one of the top 15 “Greatest Books for Kids” of all time by Scholastic Parent & Child magazine. Published in over 20 languages. The Dot inspired the launch of International Dot Day to celebrate the book’s themes of creativity and courage every year on or around September 15th. Over the past few years, over 10 million students and educators around the globe have “made their mark” in 170 countries – by making dots of all kinds and sharing them with the world with proclamations about their intent to use their creativity to make a positive difference in the world. Karuna Riazi is a born and raised New Yorker, with a loving, large extended family and the rather trying experience of being the eldest sibling in her particular clan. Besides pursuing a BA in English literature from Hofstra University, she is an online diversity advocate, blogger, and publishing intern. Karuna is fond of tea, baking new delectable treats for friends and family to relish, Korean dramas, and writing about tough girls forging their own paths toward their destinies. The Gauntlet is her first novel. Jordan Sonnenblick always wanted to be a writer, so one day in 2003 he started the book that became DRUMS, GIRLS & DANGEROUS PIE. It was published in 2005 to great acclaim, and was named to several Best of 2005 lists. It was also chosen to be part of the “Go the Distance” literacy initiative, which is a collaboration between Muhammad Ali and Scholastic. Its sequel, AFTER EVER AFTER, was published in 2010 to many accolades. In addition to also writing the critically acclaimed teen novels NOTES FROM THE MIDNIGHT DRIVER and ZEN AND THE ART OF FAKING IT Jordan has written three titles for younger children: DODGER AND ME, DODGER FOR PRESIDENT and DODGER FOR SALE. Jordan lives in Bethlehem, PA with the most supportive wife and lovable children he could ever imagine. R.L. (Robert Lawrence) Stine is one of the bestselling children's authors in history. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been translated into 32 languages around the world. His book series include, Fear Street, Goosebumps, The Nightmare Room, Rotten School, Mostly Ghostly, and Goosebumps HorrorLand. He has written two books of creepy stories—The Haunting Hour andThe Nightmare Hour. His two YA novels about sisters who become vampires—Dangerous Girls and The Touch oF Night—have been combined in the book Bitten. Bob lives in New York City with his wife Jane, an editor and publisher. Their son, Matt, is a composer and sound designer. Francisco X. Stork is the author of Marcelo in the Real World, winner of the Schneider Family Book Award for Teens and the Once Upon a World Award; The Last Summer of the Death Warriors, which was named to the YALSA Best Fiction for Teens list and won the Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award; Irises; and The Memory oF Light, which received four starred reviews. He lives near Boston with his wife. You can find him on the web at www.franciscostork.com and @StorkFrancisco. .