Nurit Zarchi is an Israeli poet and author of books for adults and children. Zarchi has published many poems in children's magazines and more than one hundred works including children's books, poetry, prose, and research. Zarchi has received major Israeli awards, including the Bialik Prize and the Ze'ev Prize (four times), and she was twice the winner of the Prime Minister's Prize for her literary work. Rutu Modan is an Israeli illustrator and comic book artist. She is a graduate of the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem and former editor of the Hebrew edition of MAD Magazine. She received a Will Eisner Comic Industry Award for her book Exit Wounds in 2008. Tal Goldfajnis an Assistant Professor of Hispanic Linguisticsat the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She holds a PhD in General Linguistics from the University of Oxford. She is the author of, among others books, Word Order and Time in Biblical Hebrew Narrative (Oxford University Press) and a co-editor of a special issue on Translation and History in Latin America published by the Estudios Interdisciplinarios de Ame rica Latina y el Caribe (Tel Aviv University). Her translations of plays by Nelson Rodrigues (from Brazilian Portuguese) and Sergi Belbel (from Spanish and Catalan) have been published by Asia Publishers and staged in Tel Aviv.

“Grain-of-Sand and her witty responses are a delight throughout the tale, forcing both Mr. Whatwilltheysay and readers to think about what they consider to be ‘normal.’ The plot is easily followed, and the vocabulary is age-appropriate and properly nautically themed. Modan’s detailed, expressive, and child-friendly illustrations draw readers right into the story and show them a whole new world. The illustrations also work with the story, helping to show the unsaid thoughts and perspectives of each character. Goldfajn has done a great job at translating this story in such a way that the content and wordplay are not lost. Together [they] lead readers right to a treasure trove of perspective, wonder, and a little bit of adventure…. An excellent translation and tale about accepting others and embracing change.”—School Library Journal