Nancy Gray Ogle grew up in Scarborough, Ontario. An enthusiasm for art occurred early in Nancy’s life, and at a very young age she decided that she was going to be an artist when she grew up. Her drawing skills were notable and with encouragement and support from teachers and family, Nancy was successfully guided toward a career in art.#Nancy studied graphic and fine arts throughout high school and at Sheridan College, but it was with her talent in fine arts that Nancy excelled. Exercising her drawing and painting became a passion that led the young art student on a path to create her own career as an artist.#Animals both domestic and wild are the subjects of choice for Nancy. To develop a growing interest in wildlife art, Nancy attended workshops with other wildlife artists in Algonquin Park and Alaska. It was at this time that she was awarded a scholarship for achieving a level of excellence. She has enjoyed numerous one-woman shows of her work and has exhibited in the company of Canada’s finest wildlife artists throughout Ontario, making her a well-known member within the community of Wildlife Art.#For six years Nancy was able to indulge in developing her skills as an artist while teaching at a privately run art school. Nancy has since enjoyed combining her love of teaching with her art and as a result has become a well-recognized teacher of the arts within her community. Since 1992, Nancy has also taught private and group workshops in a variety of art disciplines and mediums.#Bringing her wildlife art to books was an offer she was delighted to accept. In 1988, Nancy created illustrations for a book written by R.D Lawrence, The Natural History of Canada, published by Key Porter Books of Toronto. She has since created illustrations for eight publications within the Kids Can Press Wildlife series for children which include Wild Cats, Eagles, Salmon, Otters, Bats, Owls, Snakes and Skunks.#The combination of Nancy’s interest in wildlife with the opportunity to illustrate this series and future books has created an effective partnership. A realization Nancy is quite happy with as she proudly observes this natural evolution of her art.

Eric Parker is an illustrator whose work has been featured in magazines, newspapers and children’s books. He lives in Toronto, Ontario.

Karen Reczuch has been illustrating children’s books for over 20 years. As a child, she was hardly ever without a pencil in her hand and remembers more than one teacher scolding her for “doodling” during class. One Christmas she was given a book on ballet and was so keen to become a dancer that she left dozens of drawings of ballerinas for her parents, hoping they would get the idea. They finally took the hint and sent her for lessons — but it was painting classes at the local art gallery! #Karen took commercial art in high school and continued on to the illustration program at Sheridan College. After some time working in advertising, she traveled to West Africa where she illustrated educational materials for a literacy mission in Cote d’Ivoire for two years. Upon returning to Canada, she began freelancing in educational publishing and shortly afterward landed her first contract for a picture book. She also has worked as a part-time library assistant, where her favorite hour each week was the Baby Tales program — play time with books and babies!#While her children were small, Karen worked from home. Her husband Craig made an appearance in each book, often joined by one of the children. Family vacations were frequently combined with research trips: Karen and the kids exploring the location while photographer Craig recorded details. Nowadays, Karen works in a lovely studio on the banks of the Credit River in Glen Williams, Ontario, not far from her home in Acton.#Even though history was her worst subject in high school, Karen has come to enjoy digging into the past for her research. Her picture books are notable for their accuracy and detail in depicting a time and place. Recently, Karen is spending summers working as the illustrator for an archeological dig in Turkey. “Who knew that my art would give me the opportunity to see so many exotic places? It not only takes me to work halfway around the globe, but I also travel nearly three thousand years into the past!”

John Mantha is a Toronto-based artist and illustrator. He grew up in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, and graduated with honors from the Ontario College of Art and Design.#His major commissions include the design of 12 coins for the Royal Canadian Mint, one of which was chosen coin of the year. He has done commemorative pieces for the Ford Motor Company and the Toronto Transit Commission, as well as 34 paintings for the Church of Our Lady of Good Counsel. Other clients have included Fox Television, Imperial Oil, Penguin Books, Annick Press, Kids Can Press and Cottage Life magazine. Working for book publishers, advertising agencies, magazines, corporations, television and movies, his work has been seen throughout North America. His paintings, done in oils, have been exhibited in galleries across Ontario and hang in corporate and private collections. He freelances for CTV and The Globe and Mail as a courtroom artist.#Thus far, John has illustrated 26 books, including The Kids Book of Canada’s Railway, which won The Children’s Literature Roundtables of Canada 2001 Information Book Award and was an official selection for the 2003 Red Cedar Book Awards. The Kids Book of Canadian Exploration was nominated for the 2006 Hackmatack Award for nonfiction. The Kids Book of Aboriginal Peoples in Canada was nominated for one of the BC Book Prizes, the Christie Harris Illustrated Children’s Literature Prize. The Kids Book of Canada at War was nominated for the 2009 Ontario Library Association Red Maple Award.#John works in oils and oil-wash, and uses Photoshop to enhance the finished piece. His style is realistic in nature, with an emphasis on texture. He uses Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop for design work.#He lives in Toronto with his wife, Leanne; his daughter, Lauren; Bella the dog and Charlotte the cat. John is an avid golfer and has played since he was 16 years old.#Fun fact: He has appeared in two movies — Murderers Among Us: The Simon Wiesenthal Story and Love and Betrayal: The Mia Farrow Story. He portrayed a courtroom artist in both movies, and the sketches that he made were used.