Johann David Wyss was born in Berne, Switzerland in 1743. Although not much is known about Wyss's early life, what we do know is that he was greatly inspired by Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe.

This influence was so great that, later in life, he wrote his own shipwreck adventure story by the name of The Swiss Family Robinson.

This novel imitates his own personal life, in that it features a married couple with four sons as the main protagonists.

As for the rest of the story, it is completely fictional and was written with the aim of providing his children with an alternative way of learning certain life skills.

Dr. Arthur Pober has spent more than 20 years in the fields of early childhood and gifted education. He is the former principal of one of the world's oldest laboratory schools for gifted youngsters, Hunter College Elementary School, and former Director of Magnet Schools for the Gifted and Talented in New York City.

Arthur is currently the US representative to the European Institute for the Media and European Advertising Standards Alliance. He lives in New York, NY.