Designer, author, and illustrator Kristen Balouch has created eight books for children, including the Ezra Jack Keats Award-winner Mystery Bottle and the Golden Kite Award-winner The King and the Three Thieves. She has collaborated on projects such as exclusively designed toys and furniture for the Guggenheim Museum, fabric collections for Birch Fabrics, and fine art shows in New York City, and she has teamed with various licensing partners. She splits her time between a tiny top-floor apartment in Brooklyn and a farmhouse in the Adirondacks. She likes cooking, gardening, and wandering to scout out good food.