Lena Anlauf was born in the Ruhr region of Germany. She studied book studies and philosophy in Mainz and Leiden and completed a further education course on pedagogy of literacy and literature as well as a remote course on children’s and young adult literature at the STUBE in Vienna. Today she lives in Marburg, works as editorial director at the kunstanstifter verlag, researches historical picture books, writes and designs her own book projects, and puts on readings and workshops for children. Genius Noses was her children’s book debut.

Vitali Konstantinov was born in Ukraine. As a child he saw the desman at the natural history museum and was fascinated. Vitali studied architecture, graphic art, painting, and art history, and has taught illustration courses at universities in several countries as well as numerous workshops for children. His work has been exhibited extensively, has received many prizes, and has been published in forty different countries. Most recently he was nominated for the Deutsche Jugendliteraturpreis. Today Vitali works as a freelance illustrator and author and lives in Marburg. He drew the illustrations for Genius Noses and Genius Ears with drawing ink and colored pencil on watercolor paper.