Sam Taplin grew up in a beautiful valley in Yorkshire, where he dreamed of being a writer, and after three years reading other people's books at university he started writing his own for Usborne.

He's been doing it ever since. When he's not writing about lonely rabbits or inquisitive bears, he likes doing card tricks, writing songs and playing long games of chess by the fire.

Fred never wanted to be an astronaut or drive a train when he grew up. Right from the beginning he knew he wanted to draw silly pictures for a living. Some decades later, he's living the dream! Fred has worked on all manner of projects, including editorial, advertising and designing animations for the BBC. He now works mostly in children's books, including his own Captain Falsebeard and the Knightmare series with Peter Bently.