Patrick McDonnell is the author and illustrator of The Little Red Cat Who Ran Away and Learned His ABC's (the Hard Way), Tek: The Modern Cave Boy, A Perfectly Messed-Up Story, The Monsters' Monster, and Me...Jane, a Caldecott Honor Book. He is also the creator of the internationally syndicated comic strip Mutts, which inspired his picture books The Gift of Nothing, Hug Time, and others. He lives in New Jersey.