Jack Blasts Off

MAC BARNETT, the 2025-2026 National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, is a New York Times-bestselling author of stories for children. His work has been translated into more than thirty languages and has sold more than five million copies worldwide. Mac’s books have won many prizes, including two Caldecott Honors, three New York Times/New York Public Library Best Illustrated Awards, three E.B. White Read-Aloud Awards, the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award, Germany’s Jugendliteraturpreis, China’s Chen Bochui International Children’s Literature Award, The Netherlands’ Zilveren Griffel, and Italy’s Premio Orbil. He is the co-creator, with Jon Klassen, of the Looking at Picture Books Substack, as well as Shape Island, a stop-motion animated series on Apple TV+, based on their bestselling Shapes series of picture books. Mac lives in Oakland, California

Greg Pizzoli is the Theodor Seuss Geisel Award-winning creator of the Baloney and Friends graphic novel series, as well as the author and illustrator of the picture books The Watermelon Seed, Good Night Owl, and The Book Hog. He also writes nonfiction for kids, including The New York Times Best Illustrated title Tricky Vic, and PIZZA! A Slice of History.Greg Pizzoli works in a studio he shares with his wife Kay Healy, who is a printmaker and author. They live in Philadelphia with their two daughters.