Quentin Blake was born in Sidcup on the outskirts of London in 1932. He had his first drawing published in the magazine Punch exactly sixty years ago, and he has been drawing ever since. He took a degree in English Literature at Cambridge before going on to life classes at Chelsea School of Art.

He taught at the Royal College of Art for twenty years and for several years was head of the Illustration Department. He has written and illustrated books of his own, and has collaborated with writers such as Michael Rosen, Russell Hoban and John Yeoman. He is probably best known for his having illustrated all the books for children by Roald Dahl.

He has also illustrated classic works such as A Christmas Carol, Don Quixote, and Candide.He has also produced many pictures for hospitals and other public spaces. In 2013 he was knighted for his services to illustrators, and in 2014 appointed a Chevalier of the Legion d’Honneur. He lives in London and Hastings.

Anne Fine read Politics and History at Warwick and then became a teacher. Her first novel was published in 1975 and today she is one of the UK's most successful children's writers.

She has won many awards including two Carnegie Medals, the Guardian Fiction Prize and the Whitbread Prize. Goggle-Eyes was serialised on TV and Madame Doubtfire was made into a hit Hollywood movie.

Anne lives in County Durham.

Anthony Browne is one of the most celebrated author-illustrators working today.

He was Children's Laureate from 2009 to 2011 and has won multiple awards, including the prestigious Kate Greenaway Medal twice, the Kurt Maschler Award three times and the much coveted Hans Christian Andersen Award.

His outstanding work is loved and admired all around the world. He lives in Canterbury.

Chris Riddell, the 2015-2017 UK Children's Laureate, is an accomplished artist and the political cartoonist for the Observer. He has enjoyed great acclaim for his books for children.

His books have won a number of major prizes, including the 2001, 2004 and 2016 CILIP Kate Greenaway Medals.

Goth Girl and the Ghost of a Mouse won the Costa Children's Book Award 2013. His previous work for Macmillan includes the bestselling Ottoline books, The Emperor of Absurdia, and, with Paul Stewart, the Muddle Earth and Scavenger series. Chris lives in Brighton with his family.

Jacqueline Wilson wrote her first novel when she was nine years old, and she has been writing ever since. She is now one of Britain’s bestselling and most beloved children’s authors. She has written over 100 books and is the creator of characters such as Tracy Beaker and Hetty Feather. More than forty million copies of her books have been sold.

As well as winning many awards for her books, including the Children’s Book of the Year, Jacqueline is a former Children’s Laureate, and in 2008 she was appointed a Dame.

Jacqueline is also a great reader, and has amassed over 20,000 books, along with her famous collection of silver rings.

Lauren Child burst on to the children’s books scene in 1999 and has since published many bestselling and award-winning books, including those featuring the hugely popular Charlie and Lola, and the Clarice Bean series.

She has won numerous awards including the prestigious Kate Greenaway Medal and the Smarties Gold Award.

Her books have been made into an award-winning TV series and have sold in many languages with runaway success.

Malorie Blackman has written over seventy books for children and young adults, including the Noughts & Crosses series, Thief and a science-fiction thriller, Chasing the Stars.

Many of her books have also been adapted for stage and television, including a BAFTA-award-winning BBC production of Pig-Heart Boy and a Pilot Theatre stage adaptation by Sabrina Mahfouz of Noughts & Crosses. There is also a major BBC production of Noughts & Crosses, with Roc Nation (Jay-Z’s entertainment company) curating the soundtrack as executive music producer.

In 2005 Malorie was honoured with the Eleanor Farjeon Award in recognition of her distinguished contribution to the world of children’s books. In 2008 she received an OBE for her services to children’s literature, and between 2013 and 2015 she was the Children’s Laureate.

Most recently Malorie wrote for the Doctor Who series on BBC One, and the fifth novel in her Noughts & Crosses series, Crossfire, was published by Penguin Random House Children’s in summer 2019.

Michael Rosen is one of the most popular authors for children. His bestselling titles published by Walker Books include We're Going on a Bear Hunt, A Great Big Cuddle, Little Rabbit Foo Foo, Michael Rosen’s Sad Book, Tiny Little Fly and What Is Poetry?.

Michael received the Eleanor Farjeon Award for distinguished services to children’s literature in 1997, and was the Children’s Laureate from 2007 to 2009. He is a distinguished critic and academic, Professor of Children's Literature at Goldsmiths, University of London.

He also presents radio programmes for the BBC, and is a political commentator. Michael lives in London.

Michael Morpurgo has an unparalleled reputation as a children's storyteller. He was Children's Laureate from 2003 to 2005, has written over 100 books and is the winner of many awards, including the Whitbread Children's Book Award, the Smarties Book Prize, the Blue Peter Award and the Red House Children's Book Award.

His books are translated and read around the world and his hugely popular novel War Horse is now both a critically acclaimed stage play and a highly successful film. Michael and his wife, Clare, live in Devon.