Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm were born in 1785 and 1786 near Frankfurt, Germany. In their early twenties, they began the linguistic studies that would culminate in their collected editions of folk- and fairy tales. They got their stories from peasants and villagers, and sometimes from already-published works from other cultures. Jacob did much of the research; Wilhelm put the stories into literary form.

Hans Fischer, who always signed himself as Fis, was born in Bern, Switzerland, in 1909. He studied at the École des Beaux-Arts Industriels in Geneva and at the Kunstgewerbeschule in Zürich and also attended courses taught by Ferdinand Léger in Paris. He collaborated on the satirical weekly Nebelspalter. From 1937 on he worked in Zürich as a commercial artist, a set designer for the legendary Cabaret Cornichon, and an illustrator. Until 1955 he also painted twenty-two murals for public buildings. In addition to these activities, he worked on illustrated books, lithographs, and etchings. Out of these emerged a magical world of animals and goblins, mysterious, poetic, and funny. Fischer died in 1958.