Iona Margaret Opie was born on October 13, 1923. During World War II, she made meteorological maps in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force. She married Peter Opie in 1943. Together they collected children's rhymes, riddles, and street culture. Their books included I Saw Esau, The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes, The Oxford Nursery Rhyme Book, The Lore and Language of Schoolchildren, Children's Games in Street and Playground, and The Classic Fairy Tales. After her husband's death in 1982, she continued the work alone. Her books included The People in the Playground, Tail Feathers from Mother Goose, Here Comes Mother Goose, A Dictionary of Superstitions, and Children's Games with Things. Her son Robert collaborated with her on The Treasures of Childhood. She was made CBE in 1999. She died on October 23, 2017 at the age of 94.
Rosemary Wells was born in New York City on January 29, 1943. She studied at the Museum School in Boston. Without her degree, she left school at the age of 19 to get married. She began her career in publishing, working as an art editor and designer first at Allyn and Bacon and later at Macmillan Publishing. She is an author and illustrator of over 60 books for children and young adults. Her first book was an illustrated edition of Gilbert and Sullivan's I Have a Song to Sing-O. Her other works include Martha's Birthday, The Fog Comes on Little Pig Feet, Unfortunately Harriet, Mary on Horseback, and Timothy Goes to School. She also created the characters of Max and Ruby, Noisy Nora, and Yoko, which are featured in some of her books. She has won numerous awards including a Children's Book Council Award for Noisy Nora in 1974, the Edgar Allan Poe award for two young adult books, Through the Looking Glass and When No One Was Looking, and the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for Shy Charles.
