Born in 1667, Jonathan Swift was an Irish writer and cleric, best known for his works Gulliver s Travels, A Modest Proposal, and A Journal to Stella, amongst many others. Educated at Trinity College in Dublin, Swift received his Doctor of Divinity in February 1702, and eventually became Dean of St. Patrick s Cathedral in Dublin. Publishing under the names of Lemeul Gulliver, Isaac Bickerstaff, and M. B. Drapier, Swift was a prolific writer who, in addition to his prose works, composed poetry, essays, and political pamphlets for both the Whigs and the Tories, and is considered to be one of the foremost English-language satirists, mastering both the Horatian and Juvenalian styles. Swift died in 1745, leaving the bulk of his fortune to found St. Patrick s Hospital for Imbeciles, a hospital for the mentally ill, which continues to operate as a psychiatric hospital today.

Martin Woodside's poetry chapbook Stationary Landscapes came out in 2009 from Pudding House Press, and he spent 2009-10 on a Fulbright in Romania. He lives with his family in Philadelphia where he's pursuing a PhD in Childhood Studies at Rutgers-Camden.

Uma Krishnaswami is the author of several books for children. She was born in New Delhi, India, and now lives in Aztec, New Mexico.
Jamel Akib grew up in Malaysia and now lives in Leigh-on-Sea, England. This is his first picture book.