Candace Fleming has always been a storyteller. As a preschooler, she told neighbors all about her three-legged cat named Spot, and in kindergarten, she told classmates about the ghost living in her attic. Her parents encouraged these stories, and, once Fleming could write, she filled notebooks with her stories, plays, and poems. As a children’s and young adult author, her fiction titles — books like The Fabled Fourth Graders of Aesop Elementary and Tippy-Tippy-Tippy, Hide! — are known for their lively humor, while her non-fiction titles — Our Eleanor and The Lincolns: A Scrapbook Look at Abraham and Mary — are praised for making history come alive for young readers.

Eric Rohmann believes that each story needs illustrations that match its tone, content, and sensibility. As a children’s book illustrator, this means knowing how and when to use different media and techniques. For The Cinder-Eyed Cats Rohmann painted with oils. For his Caldecott Medal book, My Friend Rabbit, he used wood cuts. For his 2008 picture book, A Kitten’s Tale, Rohmann spent two months experimenting with a watercolor ink he had never used before. Trying new media can be scary, Rohmann admits, but it also keeps his artwork fresh. “Anxiety’s a good thing,” he says with a smile, “even for a children’s book illustrator.”