Barbara Odanaka is a former Los Angeles Times reporter who left daily journalism to backpack around the world and write children’s books. She is the author of Construction Cat, as well as Smash! Mash! Crash! There Goes the Trash and A Crazy Day at the Critter Café. Her polydactyl cat, Mittens, is much too lazy to work heavy machinery. Please visit Ms. Odanaka at BarbaraOdanaka.com.

Sydney Hanson is the illustrator of Construction Cat. She was raised in Minnesota alongside numerous pets and brothers. When she wasn’t tunneling through snowdrifts or rescuing frogs from rain gutters, she was drawing. Her illustrations and paintings still reflect these early adventures and are marked by a love for animals and the natural world. She lives in Los Angeles where she’s worked for several animation shops. In her spare time she enjoys traveling and spending time outside with her adopted brother, a Labrador retriever named Cash.