Author Mary-Ann Stouck is the author of a previous children’s title, A Fine Winter Cap (Walhachin Press), and the editor of a book for adults, Medieval Saints: A Reader. She is a retired Associate Professor of Humanities at Simon Fraser University. As a child, her first animal friend was a hamster, and as an adult she has given a home to horses, dogs, cats, turtles, rabbits and three more hamsters. She has been a volunteer at her local animal shelter, the British Columbia SPCA, for many years and a member of its community advisory board. Mary-Ann is deeply committed to fostering empathy between children and pets.