Marjory Stoneman Douglas didn’t intend to write about the Everglades but when she returned to Florida from World War I, she hardly recognized the place that was her home. The Florida that Marjory knew was rapidly disappearing—the rare orchids, magnificent birds, and massive trees disappearing with it. Marjory couldn’t sit back and watch her home be destroyed—she had to do something. Thanks to Marjory, a part of the Everglades became a national park and the first park not created for sightseeing, but for the benefit of animals and plants. Without Marjory, the part of her home that she loved so much would have been destroyed instead of the protected wildlife reserve it has become today (Source).

Author(s): Sandra Neil Wallace & Rebecca Gibbon

Since breaking a gender barrier in sports as the first woman to anchor an NHL broadcast on national TV, Sandra Neil Wallace has been writing stories about people who break barriers and change the world. She is the author of the Orbis Pictus Award-winning book Between the Lines: How Ernie Barnes Went from the Football Field to the Art Gallery, illustrated by Bryan Collier, which earned 4 starred reviews and co-author of the Orbis Pictus Honor book The Teachers March!, which also earned 4 starred reviews. Her young adult nonfiction title, Blood Brother, won The International Literacy Association’s Social Justice Award and was a YALSA Award Nominee for Excellence in Nonfiction. The daughter of a Yugoslavian refugee, Sandra lives in New Hampshire where she continues to break barriers and create change as co-founder of The Daily Good (Source).

Illustrator, Rebecca Gibbon was born in Wales in 1968. The youngest of four children she was fed on a diet of picture books by Edward Ardizzone, Roger Duvoisin & Richard Scarry; she dreamt of being an illustrator. Her favourite book was “Frances Face-Maker” by Tomi Ungerer. Her ambition was realized after gaining a first class Honours degree from John Moores University and consequently a Masters at Royal College of Art, London. While at the RCA she was spotted at a childrens book expo in Paris by a french Agent. Since graduating she has worked all over the globe and has illustrated over 10 Children’s Books. Rebecca paints in watercolour ink & coloured pencil, and bases her characters on the people she has met and seen over the years. She used to paint on newsprint until one day she looked back at some old work and it had all faded. Lesson learnt, she now works on acid free cartridge paper. She lives with her husband and two boys in what was once the Old Village Stores, surrounded by their eclectic collections of vintage childrens books, balloon pumps & 1950’s ceramics. She loves junk shops, flea markets, drinking tea & of course drawing (Source).