Sarah Hampson is an award-winning journalist with the Globe and Mail. This is her first foray into the world of writing for children. She lives in Toronto, Ontario.

Edward Kay is an award-winning writer who loves comedy and science, especially together. His work includes fiction and nonfiction as well as live-action and animated television for both children and adults.~Edward was a staff writer and producer for Canada’s most popular political satire show, the International Emmy–nominated This Hour Has 22 Minutes, during its four most successful seasons, and was a contributor to Rick Mercer’s Talking to Americans.#Edward has created three internationally successful children’s television series: Olliver’s Adventures, which won a Gemini for Best Animated Program; Jimmy Two-Shoes, which became a worldwide hit after it was acquired by Disney; and Finding Stuff Out, a comedy-inflected science series that airs on TVO, Knowledge Network and Discovery Kids International. Finding Stuff Out has received a Canadian Screen Award and has twice been a finalist for the prestigious Japan Prize for excellence in educational television.#More recently, Edward was the head writer for 50 episodes of the science-oriented comedy Addison for CBC Kids.#Edward has written three YA novels: the sci-fi titles Star Academy and Star Academy: Dark Secrets, and a historical novel about the Battle of the Atlantic, Sink and Destroy.#Edward loves speaking with kids in schools about writing, history and, of course, the science of stinks. Bookings can be made through Authors’ Booking Service.~Twitter: @EdwardDKay

Rachel Poliquin grew up in the country collecting curious bits of nature. She once wrote a small book about seahorses, but she lost it. She has a PhD in the history of science and a background in visual arts, museums studies and natural history. ~ ~She writes about animals, mostly. She is the author of Beastly Puzzles: A Brain-Boggling Animal Guessing Game, The Superpower Field Guides (about unexpected animal heroes), and the Polite Predator series (containing very good advice on how not to get eaten by hungry snakes and hyenas). She lives in Vancouver with her husband and three children.~Instagram: @rachelpoliquin~Twitter: @ravishingbeasts

Alan Cross is an internationally known broadcaster, interviewer, writer, consultant, blogger and speaker.#In his forty years in the broadcast and music business, Alan has interviewed the biggest names in rock, ranging from David Bowie and Ringo Starr to U2, Pearl Jam, Coldplay, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, AC/DC and the Foo Fighters.#He’s perhaps best known as a musicologist and documentarian on his long-running syndicated radio show, The Ongoing History of New Music. The program began in 1993 and so far, there are nearly 1000 one-hour episodes. Podcasts of those programs have been downloaded 12 million times around the world.#During his five-year tenure as program director of 102.1 the Edge/Toronto, he was named Program Director of the Year three times at the Canadian Music Awards.#Outside of radio, Alan’s résumé includes four books; dozens of public speaking engagements (TEDx, Ad Age and TD Financial among them); a series of national music columns; voicework for commercials; and content creation for TV, movies, record labels, artist management companies and streaming music services like Spotify, Songza and YouTube. He’s also a frequent guest commentator/analyst on a myriad of media outlets.#In 2011, Alan toured with William Shatner as part of a stage production called As Time Flies. He also was instrumental in creating content for a travelling science museum exhibit called The Science of Rock ’n’ Roll – which, by the way, was the genesis of The Science of Sound.#Alan is also sought after as a consultant for radio content. His current client is Corus Radio Toronto (102.1 the Edge and Q107). One of his companies, Major League Mixes, provided music advice for professional sports teams like the Toronto Maple Leafs.#Alan has been deeply involved exploring the past, present and future relationships between music, technology and social networking.#Alan is originally from Stonewall, Manitoba.~Twitter: @alancross~Instagram: @alancrossx~Facebook: @alancross

Inna Gertsberg grew up in the Soviet Union, a big country that no longer exists. As a kid, Inna loved to draw, and often created her own illustrations for the books she read. When she was a teenager, Inna’s family moved to Chicago where she studied art and decorated ice cream cakes to pay for her art supplies and tuition. After graduating, Inna worked in advertising as an art director and writer – a job that took her all over the world. Inna finally settled in Toronto, where she now lives with her two sons and a cat.#When she is not writing stories or making children’s books, Inna brings to life people’s imaginary monsters in her Draw Me a Monster project. Inna has drawn monsters for people in Australia, Canada, Spain, Mexico, Japan, Israel, France, England, Italy, China and many other parts of the world. She hopes to someday draw a monster for people from every single country.#Inna is an avid rock climber and a big fan of public transit.~Facebook: facebook.com/drawmymonster~Instagram: @drawmeamonster