Rachel Seago studied translation and interpretation of French and Spanish at university, but quickly decided that her first job proofreading kitchen appliance manuals was not for her. She began an indefinite trip around the world with her backpack and started filling her sketchbooks with doodles of the people she met and the places she went. After eight years of travelling and freelancing, Rachel settled back in her bonnie homeland of Scotland in 2022 to concentrate on illustrating for children.

Sinéad O’Hart lives in the midlands of Ireland with her family, where it rains a lot (perfect staying-in-to-read weather!). Lola and Larch is Sinéad’s first chapter book series for young readers published by Nosy Crow. Her books for older readers include The Eye of the North, The Time Tider and The Silver Road. She loves going for walks, autumn weather, getting things in the post, and (of course) reading, writing, and being creative. If she couldn’t be an author, she’d probably be an artist – and she DEFINITELY believes in fairies!

Paige Braddock is an Emmy-winning and Eisner-nominated artist and writer of the long-running daily comic, “Jane’s World”. She is also the Chief Creative Officer at Charles M. Schulz Creative Associates. She has illustrated several Peanuts children’s books. Her other graphic novels for children include the Stinky Cecil series. She lives in California with her wife, Evelyn, and their two dogs and a cat.

Sara Ogilvie was born in Edinburgh and now lives in Newcastle. She graduated with an Illustration/Printmaking degree from Edinburgh College of Art. Sarah has won numerous awards for her work including a Commonwealth Heads of Government commission, presented to Nelson Mandela and HRH Queen Elizabeth II. Her work is inspired by words, street life, antiquities, posters, old wives tales, household appliances, carpets, masks, trying to spell sounds, packaging and old second-hand bookshops…

Alexandra Finkeldey is a freelance artist based in Ottawa, Canada. She uses both traditional and digital mediums to capture her favourite subjects, which include animals, people, plants, and food. Alexandra’s recent picture books include When the Storks Came Home (2022) and Talala: The Curious Leopard Cub (2021).

Ruth Doyle’s obsession with animals started at an early age. She now lives on Mini Motley Sanctuary with a flock of sheep, eight chickens, three dogs, two rescued miniature horses, six guinea pigs, two rabbits and two grown-up children. Ruth’s debut picture book, Songs for Our Sons published in 2020 with its companion, Dreams for Our Daughters following in 2021.

Kevin and Kristen Howdeshell are a husband-and-wife illustration team known as The Brave Union. Kevin and Kristen began collaborating over ten years ago on their senior thesis stop-motion animation, “A Very Hairy Christmas.” (A werewolf Christmas story, of course). Since then, they’ve started a studio and taken on the freelance world of illustration working on projects for magazines, packaging, t-shirts, music albums, and, their absolute love, children’s books.

Hannah is a freelance illustrator currently based in Manchester, UK. She graduated from Falmouth University in 2013 and has since worked with a variety of publishers worldwide. When she’s not at her desk with Murphy the Whippet snoozing by her side, she’s probably pulling out weeds at her allotment, exploring the outdoors or under a blanket on the sofa (with Murphy snuggled in there too) planning and dreaming about their next trip away.

Luisa Uribe is an illustrator and designer of children’s media. She graduated as a Graphic Designer from the National University of Colombia and has an MA in Art and Design from Loughborough University. In 2018 she was awarded the SOI Dilys Evans Founder’s Award for The Vast Wonder of the World. Other recent publications include Your Name is a Song, My Town/Mi Pueblo and My Brother Is Away. She lives in Bogotá, Colombia with her partner and two cats.

Katie Saunders graduated in 2001 from the university of Central Lancashire in Preston, England, with a degree in Illustration. Over the years, Katie has worked for many publishers creating children’s books. She has also written and designed her own baby books. Katie works with many greetings card companies and has also worked on toy designs. Mostly, Katie works with hand-drawn pen, collage, and computer-aided design, although over the years she has worked in all mediums. Katie lives in her hometown of Kent with her partner, Graham, her son, Archie, and her little girl, Olive Honey. They also have two cats named Dizzy and Pumpkin. Katie works in a little studio at the bottom of her garden, which her father built for her. She has never been happier.

Jade was born in North Carolina and grew up in a tiny Michigan town. After an impassioned childhood spent drawing dragons and cat ladies, she traveled to SCAD Savannah to get a BFA in Illustration. In 2018, Jade left her job of 7 years as a staff children’s apparel artist to freelance full time. She currently lives in Atlanta, GA with her husband, greyhound, and 4 cats (including two naked ones!) When she’s not drawing, Jade can usually be found curled up with her cats and a really good book.