Hercules on the Bayou (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9781455628322)

A teacher for more than twenty years, Connie Collins Morgan loves sharing stories with children. She grew up with a Cajun family in Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, and the nearby bayous were a rich environment for her imaginative mind. Her childhood adventures often featured epic battles with fire-breathing alligators on the banks of rivers. Her Cajun upbringing has always been a chief inspiration for her stories. As she grew older, Morgan fell in love with writing, reading, and storytelling, leading her to pursue a career in education. She received a BA in elementary education from the University of Southwestern Louisiana and MFA in children's literature from Hollins University. She is a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators and the Authors Guild. Morgan shares her love for the classroom with others. Morgan also has worked in schools in Louisiana and Pennsylvania. Though her family and career have uprooted her from Louisiana, she is still a Cajun at heart. Morgan and her husband live in the Blue Ridge Mountains of West Virginia near their four grown children. She enjoys traveling to nearby Virginia, Washington, DC, and New York. Morgan previously collaborated with illustrator Herb Leonhard on The Runaway Beignet.

Herb Leonhard received a BFA in illustration from the Pacific Northwest College of Art. His award-winning work has appeared in D Magazine and on album covers, greeting cards, and posters. He is the illustrator of several Pelican books, including St. Patrick and the Three Brave Mice, A Southern Child's Garden of Verses, Leonardo's Monster, The Cajun Fisherman and His Wife, Runaway Beignet, A Is for Alliguitar, I Know a Librarian Who Chewed on a Word, Gary and the Tooth Fairy, Gary and His Little Friend Jerry, and Geaux Boudreaux. Leonhard lives with his family and a plethora of pets in Prosser, Washington.