Joe Todd-Stanton grew up in Brighton, England, and was taught to draw by his mother, who is also an illustrator. He studied at UWE Bristol, receiving a first class degree in Illustration. Todd-Stanton has been commissioned to work for clients such as Oxford University Press, Usborne Publishing, and Aquila magazine. His work has been highly
praised and his book The Secret of Black Rock was longlisted for The C ILIP Kate Greenaway Medal 2018 and won a 2018 Waterstones Children’s Book Prize.

Kieran Larwood was born in Kenya. He moved to the UK when he was 2 and lived in various places before settling on the Isle of Wight where he can still be found: exploring rockpools, climbing trees and writing – slowly disappearing behind a mountain of notebooks and empty coffee mugs. He taught Reception class in a primary school for fifteen years before becoming a full-time author.
Kieran’s books have won several awards, including the Blue Peter Best Story and the Prix Sorcières.
He is inspired by a life-long love of fantasy stories, which all began when – as a young boy – he picked up a copy of The Hobbit and saw the map inside. It just goes to show – you never know where opening a book will lead…

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.