Em Lynas is an ex-primary school teacher and author of the Action Words Reading Scheme. She writes funny fiction and poetry because she loves to hear children laugh and also because that's the way her mind works. It doesn't do 'serious'.

Em gathers inspiration from memories of the children she taught and the two she brought up, as well as channeling her own childhood experiences. She would like to thank the UK Education Department for giving her so many ideas for Toadspit Towers.

Anuska Allepuz grew up in Spain, where she studied Fine Arts at the University of Salamanca. She has enjoyed drawing and writing stories for as long as she can remember and her work is driven by a love of storytelling. In 2016, she graduated with distinction from the MA in Children's Book Illustration at the Cambridge School of Art. She likes exploring texture and using mixed media, handmade stamps and stencilled shapes.

Anuska has worked as a full-time illustrator with publishers in Spain, Mexico and Brazil, and her illustrations have been selected for exhibition at the Bologna Children's Book Fair, shortlisted for the AOI awards and Highly Commended in the Macmillan Prize. Some of her favourite things are drinking coffee with friends and playing chess.