Joanne Ryder

Biography

Joanne Ryder has always loved pandas, starting with the very first small panda toy she had as a child. She has continued to be fascinatd by these rare and wonderful animals throughout her career as a writer. She is the award-winning author of numerous picture books, including A Pair of Polar Bears: Twin Cubs Find a Home at the San Diego Zoo; Little Panda: The World Welcomes Hua Mei at the San Diego Zoo; My Mother’s Voice; My Father’s Hands; Big Bear Ball; and Wild Birds. She lives in Pacific Grove, California, with her husband, Laurence Yep, who is also an author.

Carol Lacey

Michael Rothman

Biography

Michael Rothman, the illustrator of the Just for a Day series, joined two New York Botanical Gardens research expeditions to French Guiana in 1989 and 1993. There, in one of the least logged rain forests in the world, he climbed high into the canopy and developed ideas for many of the images of rain forest life reproduced in this book. Mr. Rothman’s illustrations for science publications and for such children’s books as Inside the Amazing Amazon, by Don Lessem, display his commitment to these fragile ecosystems.

Mr. Rothman lives in Ridgefield, Connecticut.