Poet, playwright and short story writer John Agard grew up in Guyana, where his love of language grew out of listening to cricket commentaries on the radio. He has won many prizes, including the Smarties Book Prize and the Queen's Gold Medal.

John is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and his work appears in an AQA anthology for GCSE English literature.

With his partner Grace Nichols, John has edited the anthologies A Caribbean Dozen, Under the Moon and Over the Sea, Pumpkin Grumpkin and From Mouth to Mouth for Walker. He lives in Lewes, East Sussex.

Neil Packer is an exceptional new talent in children's books.

Graduating from Colchester School of Art, he worked on advertising campaigns before illustrating One Hundred Years of Solitude, The Name of the Rose and Labyrinths for the Folio Society.

For Walker he has illustrated the magnificent Odyssey by Gillian Cross. Neil lives in London, NW1.