Liz Kessler is the author of the best-selling Emily Windsnap series, the Philippa Fisher series, the novels North of Nowhere, A Year Without Autumn, and Has Anyone Seen Jessica Jenkins? as well as a series of early readers about Poppy the Pirate Dog. Liz Kessler lives with her partner in Cornwall, England.
Joanie Stone spends her days painting in her studio, surrounded by nature. She uses her background in traditional hand-drawn animation to bring life and movement to her characters, and her images incorporate textures reminiscent of children's books from the past. She hopes her illustrations will inspire kids to create their own worlds through stories and art. She was born and raised in Virginia, where she lives with her husband and young daughter.

Emily Windsnap doesn't know how to swim. Her mother has always cautioned her to stay out of the water. But it's hard to make friends at the beach when everyone else is having fun in the waves. So when swimming lessons start at school, Emily is excited to finally have the chance to learn. Standing beside the pool, she feels the water calling her, but when she jumps in, she gets a strange, kind of scary sensation--like her legs are stuck together. Eager to figure out what's happening, Emily later dives into the sea. She gets that weird feeling again, but this time she looks down to see that her legs are gone--replaced by a shiny, beautiful tail.