Margery Williams was born in London in 1881. She moved with her family to the USA in 1890 and there started a career as a writer at the age of nineteen. She wrote many stories for children, of which The Velveteen Rabbit is the most famous.

William Nicholson was born in 1872 and was one of England's most prestigious still-life and portrait painters. He also wrote and illustrated Clever Bill.