Connie Collins Morgan grew up minutes away from the magical bayous of Lafayette Parish in Louisiana. Her deep passion for the power of the written word led her to a degree in elementary education from the University of Southwestern Louisiana and then to an MFA in children’s literature from Hollins University. She and her husband live in the mountains of West Virginia near their four children but far from her Cajun home. Her French heritage, however, remains always close at heart. Her first book with Pelican, The Runaway Beignet, was also a collaboration with illustrator Leonhard.