Kirstie Hudson is an award-winning writer, editor and journalist. She was a long-time reporter and producer with CBC Radio. Kirstie coauthored two books with Indigenous artist Carey Newman. Picking Up the Pieces was a finalist for the City of Victoria Butler Book Prize. The Witness Blanket was the winner of the Norma Fleck Award for Canadian Children’s Non-Fiction and a finalist for the TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award. As an instructor at the University of Victoria, Kirstie shared her love of storytelling with students in writing and journalism. She lives in Victoria, BC.

Monique Polak is the author of over 30 books for young people. She is a three-time winner of the Quebec Writers’ Federation Prize for Children’s and YA Literature, now called the Janet Savage Blachford Prize. Monique taught for 35 years at Marianopolis College in Montreal. She is also a freelance journalist whose stories have appeared frequently in the Montreal Gazette and in Postmedia publications across Canada. Her previous nonfiction titles include I Am a Feminist, Why Humans Work and Open Science: Knowledge for Everyone. Monique does writing workshops for kids and adults across the country. She lives in Montreal.

Paige Stampatori is an illustrator based in Kitchener, Ontario. She graduated from Sheridan College’s honors illustration program in 2020. Paige is the illustrator of Why We Need Vaccines: How Humans Beat Infectious Diseases.

Kirstie Hudson is an award-winning author, editor and journalist. She was a reporter and producer with the CBC in Toronto, Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Victoria. Kirstie's work was recognized with a Jack Webster Award and Radio Television Digital News Association Awards. She co-authored two books about the making of the Witness Blanket with Indigenous artist Carey Newman. In 2020 Picking Up the Pieces was a finalist for the City of Victoria Butler Book Prize. In 2023, The Witness Blanket was the winner of the Norma Fleck Award for Canadian Children’s Nonfiction and a finalist for the TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award. She lives in Victoria, BC.

Monique Polak is the author of over 30 books for young people including Remember This: The Fascinating World of Memory, Open Science: Knowledge for Everyone and What World is Left. She is a three-time winner of the Quebec Writers’ Federation Prize for Children’s and YA Literature, now called the Janet Savage Blachford Prize. Her work has also been nominated for prizes such as the Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction and the Arthur Ellis Award. She lives in Montreal.

Paige Stampatori is an illustrator based in Kitchener, Ontario. She graduated from Sheridan College's honors illustration program in 2020. Paige is the illustrator of Why We Need Vaccines: How Humans Beat Infectious Diseases.