MARGARET ALLUM worked as an editor in London before moving to Australia, where she published her first children's book, How Many Peas in a Pod. The Best Kind of Kiss is her first book published in the United States. JONATHAN BENTLEY has been a newspaper illustrator for ten years and has illustrated several books for children. Jonathan likes to work with a range of materials, including acrylics, oils, and line and watercolor, and he looks forward to the day when he has a big, barn-like studio somewhere in the countryside.