Wai Mei Wong

Formerly an early childhood educator, Wai Mei Wong's first book, Hello, Dark, was shortlisted for the 2022 IODE Jean Throop Book Award and was a 2022 CCBC Spring Best Books for Kids & Teens selection. She was born in Hong Kong and now lives in Toronto.

Julia Vasileva is a Vancouver, British Columbia-based children's book illustrator whose books include Agent Pangolin and How the Faeries Dance. From an early age she had a voracious love of books and stories, which led to her getting a literature degree. After she immigrated to Canada in 2014, she found herself creating books instead of studying them. Her style combines traditional and digital techniques to build imaginative worlds for children to dive into.