Norma Kassirer, writer and artist, became best known for her middle-grade children’s classic Magic Elizabeth, first published in 1966 and featured in Eden Ross Lipson’s New York Times Parent’s Guide to the Best Books for Children. Another middle-grade novel, The Doll Snatchers, was published in 1969. In addition, Norma was the author of numerous books and short stories for adults. Norma’s daughter Sue Kassirer was thrilled to recently rediscover the original manuscript for The Knitting Witch, a story she had loved as a child. Wanting to share it with today’s children, Sue proceeded to edit and gently update the story, drawing on her many years of experience as a children’s book editor at Simon & Schuster, The Viking Press, Random House, and Harper Collins.

Mark Richardson is a freelance illustrator working primarily in watercolor and ink. His illustrations mostly focus on picturing fictional subjects within children’s literature. He also draws inspiration from the natural world and is engaged in an ongoing series of portraits of the birds that pass through his own property in Sandy Hook, Connecticut, where he maintains a studio and shares a home and garden with his wife, Barbara. A graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, Mark enjoys painting large landscapes that reflect upon his travels. He is also a bookbinder. Many of his artworks find their way into the hand-bound books that he produces in limited quantities from his studio.