Gene Barretta is an award-winning author and illustrator of children's books. He is the recipient of the Carolyn W. Field Award and the Bank Street Cook Prize Honor. His books include Lincoln and Kennedy: A Pair to Compare, Now & Ben: The Modern Inventions of Benjamin Franklin, Dear Deer: A Book of Homophones, and Muhammad Ali. Gene has contributed illustrations and animation to Sesame Street and Between the Lions. He has also designed characters for the Jim Henson Company. He lives in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania. You can visit him online at www.genebarretta.com.