Artist and illustrator Sallie Wolf was born in Virginia. She earned a BA in anthropology and archaeology from Brown and a BFA in painting and drawing from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Her children’s books frequently draw on observational sketches of the natural world that she makes in her journal. Wolf has said that “my art is pieced together from smaller units, much the way a journal is pieced together over time. From daily moon observations and lists of birds seen, to charts and graphs based on the information contained in those daily observations.” She is author of The Robin Makes a Laughing Sound (2010), named an Outstanding Science Trade Book by the National Science Teachers Association; Truck Stuck (illustrated by Andy Robert Davies, 2008); and Peter’s Trucks (illustrated by Cat Bowman Smith, 1992).

In 2015, Wolf was co-winner of the Jane Yolen Mid-List Author Award. Her artwork has been shown widely, and she has had solo exhibitions at Harper College, the Adler Planetarium, the art gallery of the Fermilab, and the gallery at the US Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. She holds workshops and demonstrations for children and adults throughout Chicago, where she has lived since 1973.