When she wasn't riding her bike or making things out of loo rolls and scraps of fabric, Ruth spent her childhood reading about detectives and historical figures.

She has written and edited countless books for Usborne - some about detectives and historical figures; some about dinosaurs, scientists and astronauts.

Growing up on the Wirral and in Germany, Anna wrote plays about talking animals, and stories about naughty children, and drew on every available surface.

After school, she did an Art Foundation course, then a degree in German Literature & Philosophy at Oxford University. In 1998 she found her perfect job at Usborne in London, writing about everything from curious penguins to trips to the Moon.,