Dorina Lazo Gilmore

Dorina Lazo Gilmore-Young grew up in a Filipino-Polynesian-Indian-Italian family in the kitchen with her mama, aunties and grandmas. Today, she loves to create recipes and share stories in the kitchen with her friends and daughters. Dorina is a writer, speaker, podcaster, spoken word artist, avid runner and foodie. She has a B.A. in English and Journalism and is completing an M.F.A. degree in Children's Literature at Hollins University. She is also the author of two other children's books, Children of the San Joaquin Valley and Stone Soup: A Hmong Girl's Journey to the United States, and a non-fiction book for adults, Walk Run Soar. Dorina is originally from Chicago and lives with her husband Shawn and three daughters in Central California. They love traveling, trying out delicious foods from different cultures, and running near the ocean.

Kristi Valiant loves cooking, monkeys, penguins, and red walls, all of which are found in her books. Her husband loves hippos, so you may find hippos lurking too. Kristi wrote and illustrated the picture book PENGUIN CHA-CHA and illustrated Danielle Steel's picture book, PRETTY MINNIE IN PARIS, as well as the Little Wings chapter book series, THE GOODBYE CANCER GARDEN, CORA COOKS PANCIT, and others. Kristi graduated magna cum laude from Columbus College of Art & Design with a major in Illustration. She lives in Indiana with her husband, daughters, and a room full of hippos, monkeys and sneaky penguins. Visit Kristi at www.kristivaliant.com or at www.facebook.com/kvaliant.