About the Author

Rudyard Kipling spent the first half of his life shuttling between India, the country of his birth, and England, where he achieved literary fame. He became the first English recipient of a Nobel Prize for Literature in 1907, two years before he wrote "If--."

Giovanni Manna was born in Florence, Italy, and has made illustrations for more than 80 books for children since 1995. He teaches watercolor at the International School of Illustration in Sarmede and was awarded the Andersen Prize for best Italian illustrator in 2003.