Maury Aaseng grew up in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, doodling in the margins of notebooks during class ‎and fascinated by the natural world. He began his illustrator career in San Diego as a freelancer ‎for young-adult non-fiction publications. His work expanded into areas of science and anatomical ‎art, cartooning, watercolor, nature art, and instructional drawing and painting books for budding ‎artists. Pollywog! Not a Frog is his first children's book. Maury now resides with his wife, Charlene ‎and their two children in Duluth, Minnesota near the shores of Lake Superior in close proximity to ‎the same species found in this book.‎