Samuel Parent, pen name Sampar, was born in 1973 in Victoriaville Quebec. He is a self-taught illustrator and cartoonist. He made his mark in recent years in the publishing world by being a winner of the New York Times top 10 illustrators of the year for 2014 and by being a finalist for the Governor General of Canada 2004 (Youth illustration). He has also been a Mr. Christie's Book Award 2002 finalist Awards, a favourite books Youth Communication-Jeunesse finalist, and a Hackmatack Award finalist in 2003 and 2004. Sampar's illustrations fascinate and capture the imagination of young and old alike. He is the father of three children and admits: "My dream is to make sure that my children can have something from me when they are old enough to be interested in reading."