It’s the pipe dream of many an aspiring author: publish your debut novel, claim a spot on the New York Times bestseller list, and rack up an astonishing array of awards. For Kate DiCamillo, it was a dream come true. When the author learned that her first novel, Because of Winn-Dixie, had been chosen to receive a Newbery Honor, she found herself “walking into walls. Literally.” Mercy Watson is Kate DiCamillo’s New York Times best-selling early reader series, illustrated by Chris Van Dusen. Kate DiCamillo is also the author of The Tale of Despereaux and Flora & Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures, both of which received the Newbery Medal, as well as The Tiger Rising, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, Great Joy, and The Magician’s Elephant. She was the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature for 2014–2015, and her platform was “Stories Connect Us.” She says about stories, “When we read together, we connect. Together, we see the world. Together, we see one another.” Kate DiCamillo lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota. About Mercy, she says, “Mercy Watson had been in my head for a long time, but I couldn’t figure out how to tell her story. One day, my friend Alison was going on and on and on about the many virtues of toast. As I listened to her, I could see Mercy nodding in emphatic agreement. Sometimes you don’t truly understand a character until you know what she loves above all else.”

Chris Van Dusen was born in Portland, Maine, and grew up in a small town in central Massachusetts. His interest in art began at a young age when his mother gave him and his four brothers pencils and paper to keep them busy. He studied art in college and went on to become the author and illustrator of the E.B. White Read Aloud Award winner If I Built a Car, as well as Down to the Sea with Mr. Magee, A Camping Spree with Mr. Magee, The Circus Ship, King Hugo’s Huge Ego, and Randy Riley’s Really Big Hit. Chris Van Dusen lives in the coastal town of Camden, Maine, with his wife and two sons. About Mercy he says, “When I first read Mercy Watson to the Rescue, the characters were very vivid in my mind, and they just came to life when I started painting. This is exactly the type of story I love to illustrate — a wonderfully silly adventure with lots of action.