Jabari Asim is a professor at Emerson College, where he is director of the MFA program in Creative Writing. A recipient of the prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship, he is the author of several works for children. They include A Child's Introduction to African American History, Preaching to the Chickens, Whose Toes Are Those, and Me and Muhammad Ali.

Jerrard K. Polk has been drawing all his life. He won his first art contest at the age of 5 and was educated in public schools by many skilled art teachers. His love of books and poetry was encouraged by his mother, a librarian. Today, he enjoys sharing his fondness for art and entrepreneurship with children. He is greatly inspired by jazz and the dapper fashions of its innovators. In 2021, he illustrated The Story of John Lewis and Black Inventors.