Award-winning author Stella Blackstone has written many of Barefoot's best-selling titles, including the Bear series and the Cleo the Cat series. She has been writing for children for over twenty years. Stella lives in Somerset, UK.Maria Carluccio has studied art all over the world, and has also taught drawing and illustration at the Academy of Art in San Francisco. She comes from a creative background -- her mother was an artist and her father was a lawyer and writer. Maria finds her inspiration in everything around her, from the knick-knacks she collects in flea markets to scraps of interesting paper she finds on the streets. She lives in New York with her husband, their daughter, and their dog and cat.