Karl Newson is a children’s book author and illustrator from London. He takes inspiration from songs and books and people and everything! His favourite things are elephants, stars and his two mini Mudwafflers. His least favourite thing is mashed potato – bleurgh! In his spare time he enjoys walking and listening to music from the 1960s (and singing along – badly – to them), and biscuits.
Ellie Snowdon grew up in Swansea surrounded by books, Welsh cakes and sheep. After graduating from UWE Bristol and the Children’s Book Illustration MA at CSA, Ellie returned to live and work in Swansea where she is thankfully still surrounded by books, Welsh cakes and sheep!
Jez wanted to fly planes when he was a kid, but because he loved drawing things more, he decided to make a career out of it. He’s been working as a professional illustrator for close to nine years, and over this time he has worked for many clients in children’s book publishing and designed characters for animated films and TV shows.
When he’s not making pictures, he does a bit of travelling, plays board games with his friends and finds his inner zen by baking delicious things. Jez currently lives in New Zealand’s windy capital, Wellington.
Dr Sheila Kanani is a space cadet, with her head high up in the clouds even when her feet are firmly on planet Earth. Sheila became interested in space and astronomy at the age of 13, and her passion sky-rocketed from there. She has a PhD in planetary science and her favourite planet is Saturn. Her favourite ‘work’ interests are teaching GCSE Astronomy and giving public talks to audiences of all ages and sizes, while representing her place of work, the Royal Astronomical Society, which she adores.
Outside of astronomy, Sheila loves to play hockey and the saxophone, enjoys listening to records and dancing like no one is watching with her husband and young son, and curling up on the sofa with an excellent book and her six-fingered cat. Sheila’s love of writing began when she was nine and she started a daily journal, which she has kept (mostly) up to date ever since!
Christopher Edge is an award-winning children’s author whose books have been translated into more than twenty languages. His novel The Infinite Lives of Maisie Day won the STEAM Children’s Book Prize and his last four novels were all nominated for the prestigious CILIP Carnegie Medal. Before becoming a writer, he worked as an English teacher, editor and publisher – any job that let him keep a book close to hand – and he now lives in Gloucestershire with his wife and family, close to his local library.
Find out more about Christopher at christopheredge.co.uk and find him on Twitter @edgechristopher
David Solomons has been writing screenplays for many years. His first feature film was an adaptation of ‘Five Children and It’ (starring Kenneth Branagh and Eddie Izzard, with gala screenings at the Toronto and Tribeca Film Festivals). A Beginner’s Guide to Ruling the Galaxy is his sixth novel for children. He was born in Glasgow and now lives in Dorset with his wife, the novelist Natasha Solomons, their son, Luke, and daughter Lara.
Melissa Crowton grew up amongst the neighbourhoods of rural Utah where there were a lot of empty roads and open skies to look at, but not much else. She found traveling by book was a quite agreeable alternative, and has been enjoying a vast array of stories ever since. Melissa graduated with a degree in Illustration from BYU in 2012 and a Masters in Illustration Practice from Maryland Institute College of Art in 2016. She lives in the East Bay of California and explores the steep hills of San Francisco when she can. But not for too long, for she still has more reading to do.
Prize-winning illustrator Edward Underwood is one half of the design duo that makes up Lisa Jones Studio. Edward and Lisa have been creating homewares and greetings cards together for twenty years and are known for their witty, graphic images. They live with their son in a converted mill on the edge of the South Downs.
Paula Harrison is the author of the Red Moon Rising trilogy, The Rescue Princesses series and the Secret Rescuers series. She wanted to be a writer from a young age but spent many happy years being a primary school teacher first. She finds inspiration in lots of things from cloud shapes to snippets of conversation. She loves sandy beaches and eating popcorn. She lives with her husband and children in Buckinghamshire, which is nowhere near the sea. Whenever possible, she packs her family into the car and journeys far and wide to find a sandy beach where she can paddle in the waves.
Olivia Chin Mueller grew up in a small town in Connecticut, USA, and now lives in Rhode Island. She attended the Rhode Island School of Design and graduated with a BFA in 2014. When she’s not illustrating, Olivia loves playing with her cats, sewing and felting, and collecting cute toys and nail polish.
Ever since his art teacher told Edward’s parents that their son blossomed in the art room, Edward has followed an artistic path, studying industrial design and working as a 3D artist, animator, and illustrator. He likes nothing better than making up stuff and colouring it in, and is super-excited about having the chance to illustrate such a popular children’s story. Edward grew up in Suffolk, in a house full of home computers and pencils. He now lives in the Midlands with his wife, two children, three trolls, four giant land snails, and too many books.
Catherine Wilkins is a writer and comedian. She writes jokes and stories which she performs around the country to strangers in the dark, trying to make them laugh. Catherine has always wanted to write funny stories for children and is finding the whole process more exciting than that time she bungee jumped. Which is pretty exciting. If you think about it.