Beth Lancione

Author Beth Lancione, of Etters, Pennsylvania, retired from a long career in public education and began, what she hoped to be a long second career as an author of children's books. The Solomon Screech Owl stories, conceived as a series in which Sollie visits the seven continents in his quest to see all that the world has to show him, was inspired by Beth's love for her grandchildren, her enjoyment of adventurous travel, and her experiences with owls as a volunteer at a rescue facility for injured birds of prey.

Illustrator Kathy Haney, a retired high school art teacher, resides in Salem, Oregon. She is an award-winning artist, creating drawings and watercolor paintings, designing posters and illustrating books. An area of special interest for her is early childhood literacy, having taught young parents the value of reading to their infants, volunteering in Guatemala's efforts to increase literacy of indigenous people, and proudly being the first person to read a book to her grandchildren. Kathy, and her husband, Gary, love to travel, and much of her artwork reflects the peoples and cultures they have encountered. She is excited to share the adventures of travel with Solomon's readers.

Beth and Kathy have been friends since high school and traveled together with their spouses to many of the places Sollie goes. The Solomon Screech Owl series is their first literary collaboration.

On December 30, 2014 Beth and her husband, Mel, died in a tragic car accident. Beth, with her enthusiasm for Solomon, had completed most of the writing for the books so her dream of a book series will be completed by her family and the illustrator, Kathy Haney.