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.

Maja Dusiková was born in Piestany, Czechoslovakia, and now lives in Florence, Italy. She has illustrated many books for both children and adults, including Advent Storybook and Silent Night, Holy Night.