When Steve was 10 years old his family moved to New Zealand from their home in Ohio. They eventually moved on to Australia and put down roots in Tasmania.
As an adult Steve returned to Tasmania to raise his own family. While he worked as a teacher, the Ishams used their vacations to build a house from adobe brick, fieldstone and timber from the local mill. Set on five acres, overlooking the sea, it is also home to four sheep and a cat. The Ishams have regular nightly visits from a variety of marsupials including potoroos and pademelons, wallabies and bandicoots. These animals enjoy the lush green grass near the house, and stray bits of dry cat food!

Steve and his wife, Marion, became a writer/illustrator team. Although Marion has a degree in speech pathology, her real strength is drawing. Steve's fine arts background brings a love for color. They both love words and word play. The writing of their first book brought these complementary interests together. They have since teamed up on several books frequently writing the text as well. They work from a studio that adjoins their house. Since 1995 Steve has presented programs and run workshops in hundreds of schools both locally and twice each year, touring the United States.