The Coopersville Capers
About the Author

Emily Gail

Emily Gail was born and raised on the East Coast in the small town of West Chester, Pennsylvania. After finishing college with a major in English, she moved to California to pursue her dream of sailing. Since buying her first sailboat, Emily has sailed throughout the Hawaiian Islands, to the South Pacific and Caribbean. When she's not sailing the high seas, she docks her sailboat in San Diego, California, where she freelances as a travel writer. And it is here where she wrote her first children's story, The Coopersville Capers. Emily looks forward to increasing her volume of children's novels and perhaps writing about a sailing adventure.

Len Gatdula

Len Gatdula has been an artist since he was old enough to hold a pencil. He has always loved drawing and creating characters and places that could only exist in his imagination. Never formally trained, his only education in art came from his inspirations---films, animation, books, comics, and the work of popular fine and commercial artists. He realized that he was destined to do something with his talent when, as a fifth grader, his cartoons and biography were featured in a statewide Arizona newspaper, followed by an interview for a local television newscast. What began then as an introverted child's hobby turned into a professional pursuit nearly a decade ago when Len landed a job as a staff artist for a major video game publisher in Southern California. Since that time, his art has been featured in several mediums---interactive games for the home and arcade entertainment venues, print work, the web, and most recently, here---as a proud PLAYBOOKS illustrator! Len is hopeful that his work will appeal to young readers, parents, and teachers everywhere that benefit from using the unique PLAYBOOKS format of learn-to-read materials in their homes and schools. As an avid reader himself, he welcomes the opportunity to accent PLAYBOOKS stories with fun, colorful art that is just one hallmark of this innovative and "edu-taining" product!

Len lives in Southern California with his fiancée Maryanne and their three children, Drew, Alyssa, and Ethan, where he continues to create art for all ages.