About the Creators, The Madre de Aguas of Cuba

Adam Gidwitz taught big kids and not-so-big kids in Brooklyn for eight years. Now he spends most of his time chronicling the adventures of the Unicorn Rescue Society. He is also the author of the Newbery Honor–winning The Inquisitor’s Tale, as well as the bestselling A Tale Dark and Grimm and its companions. He is also the creator of the podcast Grimmest.

Jesse Casey and Chris Lenox Smith are filmmakers. They founded Mixtape Club, an award-winning production company in New York City, where they make videos and animations for all sorts of people.

Adam and Jesse met when they were eleven years old. They have done many things together, like building a car powered only by a mousetrap and inventing two board games. Jesse and Chris met when they were eighteen years old. They have done many things together, too, like making music videos for rock bands and an animation for the largest digital billboard ever. But Adam and Jesse and Chris wanted to do something together. First, they made trailers for Adam’s books. Then, they made a short film together. And now, they are sharing with the world the courage, curiosity, kindness, and courage of the members of the Unicorn Rescue Society!

Hatem Aly is an Egyptian-born illustrator whose work has been featured in multiple publications worldwide. He currently lives in beautiful New Brunswick, Canada, with his wife, son, and more pets than people. He has illustrated many books for young people, including The Proudest Blue: A Story of Hijab and Family by Ibtihaj Muhammad with S. K. Ali, the Newbery Honor winner The Inquisitor’s Tale by Adam Gidwitz, the Unicorn Rescue Society series also by Adam Gidwitz with several amazing contributing authors, the Story Pirates book series with Geoff Rodkey and Jacqueline West, early readers series Meet Yasmin with Saadia Faruqi, and How to Feed Your Parents by Ryan Miller. He has more upcoming books and projects in the works. You can find him online @metahatem.