Kitty O’Meara lives near Madison, Wisconsin, with her husband, Phillip Hagedorn, their five rescue dogs, two cats, gardens, and books. Formerly a middle school writing and literature teacher and hospital and hospice chaplain, she is currently a spiritual director and has been a lifelong writer and artist. She has been called “the poet laureate of the pandemic” based on her wildly popular, widely circulated, and hopeful poem about the Covid-19 pandemic. That poem is illustrated and presented in book form in the bestselling And the People Stayed Home, published by Tra Publishing. She is also the author of The Rare, Tiny Flower (Tra Publishing, 2021).

PRAISE FOR KITTY O’MEARA

“Kitty O’Meara is the poet laureate of the pandemic. . . . The poem has become shorthand for a silver-linings perspective during the coronavirus outbreak.”—O, The Oprah Magazine

“A communal beacon of hope.”—The Washington Post

“She is challenging us to grow—to look inside, to listen deeply, to allow ourselves to think differently, and ultimately, to create new ways of living on the planet.”—Deepak Chopra, MD, author, Metahuman

“A stunning and peaceful offering of introspection and hope…”—The Children’s Book Review

“O’Meara’s words come to life for future generations to…encourage everyone to find silver linings, think differently and never lose hope.”—B&N Reads

“She has given the world a small piece of joy.”—BookTrib

Born in Genoa, illustrator Anna Pirolli moved to Milan to study illustration at the European Institute of Design, where she graduated in 2001. She has worked as a freelance illustrator and art director for companies such as Mondadori, Pearson, Vogue, MTV, Kinder Ferrero, Telecom, Nickelodeon, Furla, Zecchino d’oro, Disney, following the creative process from concept to creation. She's also a visiting professor at the Accademia di Brera in Milan, where she teaches design applied to the arts. Despite her love for traditional techniques, her artwork is mostly digital. Ironically, her dream-like, suspended atmospheres often don't look digital at all. Her first picture book, I Hate My Cats, written by Davide Calì, was published by Chronicle Books, and the illustrations from her latest book, Anonymouse by Vikki VanSickle (Tundra Books), won the Dilys Evans Founder’s Award in the 2021 Society of Illustrators Original Art Show.