Johanna Spyri was born in 1827 in Hirzel, Switzerland. In 1852, she moved to Zürich, where she began to write stories about life in the country. Heidi's Years of Wandering and Learning, usually abbreviated as Heidi, is by far the most well known. Published throughout the world, it has inspired more than twenty film or television productions, a musical drama, and a tourist area—Heidiland—in Switzerland. Johanna Spyri died in 1901.

Maja Dusíková was born in Piestany, Czechoslovakia, and now lives in Florence, Italy. One of the most celebrated children's book illustrators in Europe, she has a pet rabbit named Cici that runs under her table while she paints and doesn't like carrots.