Willie Wood grew up in a nine-jellybean family herself: mom, dad, and six siblings. Following her parents’ example of compassion for people in need, especially for helping children, Willie has spent much of her life serving others.

She and her husband Curt have three married sons and a growing number of grandchildren. In 1982 she authored A Parent’s Guide to Breastfeeding.

Willie earned her B.S. degree in communication arts and an M.A. degree in reading. She has taught in junior/senior high schools and community colleges in Lebanon, Pennsylvania and on the Lower Brule Sioux Reservation (South Dakota); she served as the director of a nursery school and has been very involved in organizations for children and youth.

She and her husband have lived and worked on Native American reservations in South Dakota, Arizona, Alaska, and Idaho. While Curt used his medical skills in the clinics, Willie spent her time participating in numerous children's activities in the schools, churches, and communities.

On the Crow Creek Sioux Reservation in South Dakota, she established a children’s library and organized a local chapter of Dr. Jane Goodall's international Roots & Shoots program. Curt and Willie founded the non-profit Prairie Horizons, Inc. to provide enrichment opportunities for the Crow Creek Sioux children and financial assistance to families on the reservation. Since 2001, she accompanied many of the children on educational trips to Pennsylvania.

Willie has spent a lifetime demonstrating love and concern for children—baking cookies with children, sewing regalia for children to participate in Native American events, and a thousand other unseen acts of kindness. Her newest book, Nine Little Jellybeans, is just one more expression of love from Willie to the world—one human-bean to another.

Illustrator Ron Wheeler
Ron Wheeler has been writing and illustrating cartoons full time since 1980. He has published clip art books and CDs and has created comic strips and a line of gospel-oriented cartoon tracts. His illustrations can be found in many forms of Christian literature; his online clip art gallery contains over 14,000 images.

Ron is a regular guest speaker on cartooning at the University of Nations in Kona, Hawaii and holds an annual summer cartoon camp in his studio. He received a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Nebraska; he and his wife Cindy live in Kansas City, Missouri and have three grown children.

For more information, go to http://CartoonWorks.com.