Blair Lent has received many illustration awards, including three Caldecott Honors and the Caldecott Medal for The Funny Little Woman by Arlene Mosel. He also illustrated Ms. Mosel's Tikki Tikki Tembo, a best-seller since its publication in 1968. Mr.Lent's work in Ruby and Fred, and in The Beastly Feast by Bruce Goldstone, was influenced by carved wooden animals made by artisans near Oaxaca, Mexico. He lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.