Growing up in London, I spent a lot of time sitting on the Underground, daydreaming and reading books. Historical adventures in far-flung lands were always my favourites, and I used to love visiting castles and ruins.

After I left home, I lived in Japan for a while and learned all about the Samurai. Now I've swapped the city for the countryside and as well as reading books I also write stories and plays for young people.

The thing I like most about being a writer is playing around with ideas for stories in my head, which is daydreaming really so not much has changed!

Jon Scieszka’s books have sold more than 11 million copies. He is the author of The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales, The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs, the Time Warp Trio series, the Spaceheadz series, and most recently, Battle Bunny, coauthored by Mac Barnett.

In 2008, Scieszka was named the inaugural National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature by the Library of Congress. He is also the founder of Guys Read, a web-based literacy program for boys. Scieszka lives in Brooklyn, New York.