Joe Rhatigan is an author and editor whose twenty-year book publishing career has taken him from creating and managing imprints to editing and/or writing more than 100 children's books for trade, wholesale, and educational markets. His picture books and fiction include I Love a Book (MoonDance Press, 2017), The Egg Salad Sandwich Incident (Teacher Created Materials, 2019), Everyone Toots (MoonDance Press, 2018), and Doggie Day Care (Little Hippo Books, 2020). His nonfiction includes Little Genius Solar System (Little Genius, 2021) Step into Reading: Space (Random House Books for Young Readers, 2016), 50 Wacky Inventions Throughout History (Walter Foster Jr., 2017), White House Kids (Charlesbridge, 2015), Ouch! (Charlesbridge, 2013), and Out-of-This-World Astronomy (Lark Books, 2003). He lives in the mountains of North Carolina with his family and a dog named Rooster.

Lizzy Doyle is a designer, illustrator, and author from New Jersey. She is the creator and owner of Lizzy Dee Studio where she uses her children's publishing experience and her love for all things smiley to design books, craft kits, and paper goods. Her design mind gives an edge in the illustration market where she loves creating cute characters, patterns for apparel & decor, and illustrations for licensing! Lizzy is also an avid collector of oddities & antiques, a WFMU fanatic, and you'll never see her without tea in hand.