Dion Beasley is well known across the Territory as the artist behind the much-loved T-shirt brand, Cheeky Dogs. Dion's formal art career started in 2006 when the first Cheeky Dogs T- shirt line was launched. Since then, his reputation as an accomplished visual artist has grown from strength to strength. Dion's talents are particularly remarkable given he has muscular dystrophy and is profoundly deaf. In 2019 he received the Australia Council National Arts and Disability Award for an Emerging Artist. A former resident of Tennant Creek, NT, he now lives on the Sunshine Coast.
Johanna Bell lives in nipaluna, Tasmania, with her partner and daughter. Her writing career got off to a bumpy start when she was so busy composing a story in her head that she accidentally drove into the back of a taxi. It was while driving on a bumpy stretch of road outside Alice Springs that the beginnings of the Cheeky Dog books, took shape. Working with Dion has changed the way Johanna sees the world and tells stories. Johanna and Dion's books include Too Many Cheeky Dogs, the CBCA Book of the Year, Go Home Cheeky Animals and the illustrated memoir, Cheeky Dogs: To Lake Nash and Back, shortlisted for the 2020 Prime Minister's Literary Award.