Kersten Hamilton is a critically acclaimed author of books for toddlers, teens, and all people in between. Her fast-paced stories are loved by readers around the world. She is the author of Red Truck, illustrated by Valeria Petrone, which received a starred review from Booklist and has sold almost a quarter million copies. The Red Truck and Friends series now has six books about different trucks and machines. Kersten is also the author of First Friend: How Dogs Evolved from Wolves to Become Our Best Friends, illustrated by Jaime Kim, and the YA novel In the Forests of the Night, among many other books for children and teens.

Kersten has worked as a ranch hand, a wood cutter, a lumberjack, a census taker, a wrangler for wilderness guides, and an archeological surveyor. She currently lives in New Mexico, where, when not writing, she hunts dinosaurs in the Ojito Wilderness.