Jabber the Steller's Jay

Dr. Sylvester Allred is a retired biology professor from Northern Arizona University. He taught over 20,000 students in his twenty-seven years at the university while conducting research on the ecology of tassel-eared squirrels within the ponderosa pine forests of the southwestern United States. In addition to teaching he has written five children¿s books, two of them set in the national parks, and The Natural History of Tassel-Eared Squirrels. His latest book, Ponderosa: Big Pine of the Southwest , was released in April 2015. He and his wife, Donna, live in Durango, Colorado, where they are very active hikers.

Ms. Diane Iverson is illustrator and/or author of several children¿s books and a popular speaker at elementary schools. She has also illustrated books for adults. She and her husband, Doug, live just outside Prescott, Arizona, at the edge of the Granite Mountain Wilderness Area.