Jane Zal­ben has cre­at­ed over fifty award-win­ning books for chil­dren: pic­ture books, nov­els, poet­ry, short sto­ries, cook­books and non-fic­tion. She is also an abstract painter, a for­mer art direc­tor at Scribner’s and has taught writ­ing, illus­tra­tion, and design at the School of Visu­al Arts in New York City for eigh­teen years. Jane explores issues of fam­i­ly, friend­ship, self-reliance, inner strength, peace and reli­gion, and the cre­ative process of music and art. Jane has won 4 sil­ver Syd­ney Tay­lor Book Awards and has been exhib­it­ed in libraries, gal­leries, and muse­ums. Her stu­dio is on Long Island.