Gertrude Chandler Warner grew up in Putnam, Connecticut. She wrote The Boxcar Children because she had always dreamed about what it would be like to live in a caboose or a freight car--just as the Aldens do. When readers asked for more adventures, Warner wrote more books--a total of nineteen in all. After her death, other authors have continued to write stories about Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny Alden, and today The Boxcar Children® series has more than one hundred books.
Largely self-taught, Shane Clester has been a professional illustrator since 2005. He began working in comics and storyboards before transitioning to his true passion--children's books. Shane lives in Florida with his wife and two children.