Piper Reed, Forever Friend (Piper Reed, 6)

Piper Reed is excited to move to a new state and catch up with old friends. But the move doesn't go as smoothly as she expected: Piper has trouble feeling accepted in her new surroundings. But then she meets Arizona Smiley. Arizona is an avid stamp collector and bowls in a league. Piper is intrigued by Arizona's originality and before long, she wins Arizona's affections, and the two become great friends. This move turns out to be the best one yet, and in Kimberly Willis Holt's Piper Reed, Forever Friend, Piper is eager to spread her trademark "Get Off the Bus" catchphrase once again.

Twenty three years ago Kimberly Willis Holt stopped talking about wanting to be a writer and started to pursue her dream. Because of her family's Louisiana roots she considers herself a southerner, but her father's military career took her to places beyond the South, including Paris and Guam.

She's the author of more than fifteen books for a wide range of ages, many of which have won awards and honors. Her third novel, When Zachary Beaver Came to Town won the National Book Award for Young People's Literature. She writes and gardens in Texas.

As a young girl growing up in Tours, France, Christine Davenier loved listening to her older sister read fairy tales aloud. But she frequently found herself wondering, What does the princess’s beautiful dress look like? or How exquisite are her jewels? Christine was left to her own imagination, for the books had few illustrations. So it comes as little surprise that today, Christine embraces her career as an illustrator. “I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to create the illustrations I dreamed about seeing as a child,” she says.

When Christine was fourteen, she received her first box of watercolor paints, a gift from her grandmother. That was the beginning of many afternoons spent painting together in her grandmother’s garden. “My grandmother was an extraordinary woman,” Christine says. “Even though she worked in an office all her life, she was an artist through and through. She shared everything she knew about color―in painting and in life. Her wisdom and talent still inspire me today.”

She has illustrated many picture books, including Sally Jean, the Bicycle Queen by Cari Best. She lives in Paris, France.