The Author

Doris Arend was born and raised in Bremen, Germany. She trained as a secretary, then spent a year in England and another in Switzerland as an au pair. She later became a flight attendant, a profession she continues to practice today. In 2000, encouraged by a friend who writes children's books, Doris Arend published her first book for early readers. She has been writing on a freelance basis, in addition to flying, ever since. Doris Arend lives with her husband near Frankfurt.
Judith Allert was born in 1982 and studied modern German literature in Bayreuth, where she also published her first children’s books. In 2009 she completed her master’s thesis on the topic of fantasy writing for children and teens, and she has been a freelance author ever since. Today the author lives on an old farm with her husband, dogs, cats, horses, hens, and wooly pigs.
Ingrid Uebe was born and raised in Essen, and now lives in Cologne, Germany with her husband, daughter and son. Since 1977 she has written numerous books for children and adolescents, many of which have won diverse prizes. She is one of the best-known and most successful authors of books for beginning readers, including series of books that have sold hundreds of thousands of copies.
Maja von Vogel studied German and French in Münster, Göttingen and Paris, then pursued additional training in publishing in Munich. Author of numerous beautiful children's books, she was an editor at a children's press in Munich before becoming a full time writer and translator. Maja von Vogel currently lives with her family in Göttingen.

The Illustrator

Elke Broska, born 1980, studied graphic and communication design at the universities of applied sciences in Bielefeld and Mainz with a focus on illustration and book design. Since 2007 she works as a freelance illustrator for various publishers. She lives and works in Wiesbaden. Her hobbies include music, books, art and design, traveling, tai chi, pug dog and guinea pig. On her work for children, she says, "Children can do so much more than adults want them to believe, and a good book encourages them to go their own way no matter how small they supposedly are."
Betina Gotzen-Beek was born in Mönchengladbach in 1965. After she completed school, she traveled throughout all of Europe prior to beginning her studies in painting and graphic design at Freiburg University. She has worked as a freelance children's book illustrator since 1996. Betina Gotzen-Beek lives with her family in Freiburg.
Cathy Ionescu, born in Koblenz in 1984, grew up in Dortmund and Münster. She studied art history, architecture, design and illustration in Bonn, Dortmund, Münster and Seoul. She lives and works as a children's book illustrator in Münster. Her favorite things to draw are horses, dachshunds and oil tankers
Lila L. Leiber studied graphic advertisement and then worked in various agencies. She has lived in Germany since 1982. Lila Leiber has already illustrated numerous children's books and schoolbooks. Her best critics are her small sons, David and Robert.