Tilde Michels was born in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, in 1920, studied foreign languages in Hamburg and Munich, and began her career as a foreign correspondent in France and England. Her first attempt at creative writing was a fairy tale for the Neue Zeitung, following which she was commissioned to write the text for a picture book. The result was Karlines Ente (Karline's Duck) with pictures by L. Fromm. Tilde continued to work as a freelance author and translator, and lived with her family in Munich until she died in October 2012. Reinhard Michl was born in Lower Bavaria, Germany, in 1948. He trained to be a typesetter, but then studied graphic design at the Fachhochschule and art at the Akademie der Bildenden Kunste in Munich. He has worked continuously as a freelance draughtsman, painter and illustrator, and since the mid 1970s has collaborated with many famous authors on more than 100 books, including about 40 picture books.