Simple Gifts

Ann Harrell believes in the power of story. As a licensed counselor, she listens to stories; as a certified dance therapist, she expresses stories through movement; and as a children's author, she creates stories. Ann writes picture books that relate to a child's social-emotional voice. Some of her stories reflect her upbringing in Turkey. Ann lives in Greensboro, NC with her husband and two dogs. When she's not writing, she enjoys family time, dancing, and taking walks with her golden retriever, rescued from the streets of Turkey.

Malgorzata Zając is a Polish illustrator. She lives with her family in a very old city called Kraków. This city is known for its famous dragon (unfortunately no longer in good shape) and for Wawel Royal Castle (still in perfect shape). Malgorzata strongly believes that imagination is the most important thing in life. Her head is always full of all kind of creatures, imaginary friends, magical worlds and entire stories. She uses her drawing skills and different techniques to create those nonexistent worlds on paper. The shelves in Malgorzata's workshop are filled with beautiful books illustrated by her favorite artists from all over the world. She admires them and learns something new from them every day. She dreams that her picture books will one day be on someone's Favorites shelves too.