James and Jean Anton were born and raised in New York City, and spent ten years living and working abroad in countries as diverse as Brazil, Ecuador, Denmark, Italy and Iran. They have written and illustrated books for Scholastic Inc, McGraw Hill, Macmillan, and Sterling Publishers. They have authored and illustrated a weekly column called Dr. Crystal's Cosmic Kid Stuff for the Pennywhistle Press section of the Gannett News Service. In addition, they worked as editorial cartoonists, having received Best Editorial Cartoon awards from the New York Press Association (the Phoenix and Villager Newspapers in New York City). They are also playwrights. One of their plays, Freaks, was finalist in the Actors' Theater in Louiville's National Playwriting contest.