The Middle

Joshua David Stein is a writer, editor, book critic, and food critic in New York City. He is the author of multiple adult books, including Food & Beer (Phaidon), Epicurean Journeys (Rizzoli), and To Me, He Was Just Dad (Artisan), and is the coauthor of Notes from a Young Black Chef (Knopf). He has also written several children's books, including Can I Eat That? (Phaidon), The Invisible Alphabet, Solitary Animals, The Catalogue of Hugs, and Lunch from Home (all from RISE x Penguin Workshop). He founded The Band Books, a band that performs children's books to music. A longtime media fixture, Stein has been the editor-in-chief of BlackBook magazine, the editor at Black Ink, a senior editor at Departures, the senior editor of Eater, and the editor-at-large at Out magazine and Tasting Table. He is currently a contributor at Esquire. Stein lives in Brooklyn with his two sons.

Christopher Silas Neal is an award-winning author and illustrator of picture books including the Over and Under series with author Kate Messner, which was praised for its "stunning retro-style illustrations" (New York Times) and Creep, Leap, Crunch by Jody Jensen Schaffer. Neal's author debut, titled Everyone, was praised by Publishers Weekly as "simple, honest, lyrical." His board book series (Animal Colors, Animal Shapes) received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and Kirkus. Neal is a Mexican/European-American artist who lives with his wife and two boys in Brooklyn, NY.