Shannon Hale and LeUyen Pham are best friends who have been publishing books for young readers for two decades. They have created three bestselling series together: the graphic novel Friends series, the early chapter book Princess in Black series (with Dean Hale), and the picture book Itty-Bitty Kitty-Corn.

Shannon lives in Utah with her husband, four kids, and two cats where she writes award-winning novels like The Goose Girl, Book of a Thousand Days, Dangerous, and the Newbery Honor winner Princess Academy, and pens other books with her husband Dean, including Diana, Princess of the Amazons (illustrated by Victoria Ying), Rapunzel’s Revenge (illustrated by Nathan Hale), and two novels about Marvel’s unbeatable Squirrel Girl.

LeUyen lives in Los Angeles with her husband, two sons, a cat, and an orange gecko. She is the author/illustrator of the books Big Sister, Little Sister, A Piece of Cake, The Itchy Book, and Outside, Inside. She is also the illustrator of over 100 books for kids, including Vampirina Ballerina by Anne Marie Pace, Grace for President by Kelly DiPucchio, and The Boy Who Loved Math by Deborah Heiligman. Her illustrations have won numerous awards, including the prestigious Caldecott Honor for Bear Came Along with Richard Morris.

Shannon and LeUyen plan to keep making books together for many years to come and to stay friends forever.