The Barber's Cutting Edge

Dr. Gwendolyn Lavert is an educator and literacy consultant based in Bedford, Texas. She's the author of more than twenty children's books including Papa's Mark, The Music in Derrick's Heart, Off to School, and The Shaking Bag, which won a Parents' Choice Award. Many of her notable titles celebrate African American culture and history. You can find her on Twitter at @gwen_lavert.

Raymond Holbert was born and raised in California, earned three art degrees from the University of California at Berkeley, and still lives in the Bay Area. He has illustrated books in a variety of disciplines and served as a faculty member in the art department at the City College of San Francisco for thirty-five years. He remains most active in the practice of photography--film, digital, and computer imaging--which allows him to blend photographic images with his original drawings. You can learn more on his website, memorybanque.com