Harriet Ziefert is a prolific children's book author and the founder and publisher of Blue Apple Books, an award-winning children's publishing house. A pioneer in the leveled-reader genre, Ziefert has written numerous Step into Reading books, including the bestselling Sleepy Dog. Norman Gorbatywas a leader in graphic design in a career spanning over fifty years, most notably as the art director for the legendary advertising agency Benton & Bowles, where he designed iconic ads for Crest, Post cereals, and the IBM Selectric typewriter, and groundbreaking covers forTimemagazine. After he trained at Yale, Gorbaty's early career as a fine artist saw his work in the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Gorbaty became an internationally recognized painter and sculptor and was the illustrator of numerous books for children, includingSleepy Dog. He passed away in 2020 at age 87.