Sam Hay grew up in Scotland in a family of bookworms. She always wanted to be a writer and filled endless notebooks with stories and poems.

She trained as a journalist in Edinburgh and went on to work in newspapers for the BBC, before deciding to move to Wales and write her first children’s book.

Since then she’s had more than 30 children's books published including Do Not Wash this Bear, Star in the Jar and Dinosaurs United and the Cowardly Custard Pirates for Egmont UK.

Emma was brought up in a family of artists and from as far back as she can remember she has wanted to be an illustrator.

She studied Graphic Design and Illustration at Central Saint Martin's School of Art and has worked extensively in advertising, editorial and book illustration.

I Love My Mummy, written by Giles Andreae and illustrated by Emma, won the Booktrust Best Book For Babies award in 2010.

Among Emma's favourite things in life are surfing with her kids, punctuality and Scrabble. Things she cannot abide include heights, pate and children who complain that they are bored.

'How can you ever be bored,' she says, 'when you can always draw a picture?' Lives in Surrey.