Joanna Nadin is a winner of the Fantastic Book Award, the Surrey Book Award, Blue Peter 'Book of the Month' and Radio 4 Open Book 'Book of the Year'.

She has been shortlisted for the Booktrust Best Book Award and Queen of Teen, and Spies, Dad, Big Lauren and Me was selected for the Richard and Judy Book Club.

In 2011, Penny Dreadful is a Magnet for Disaster was shortlisted for the Roald Dahl Funny Prize. Joe All Alone was nominated for the 2016 CILIP Carnegie Medal.

She writes the Flying Fergus series with Sir Chris Hoy. Joanna previously worked as a policy writer for the Labour Party and a special adviser to the Prime Minister.

She continues to freelance as a speechwriter and editor, and lectures in Creative Writing at Bath Spa University.

Simon Puttock was born in New Zealand.

He has written over 40 books for children including picture books and fiction and has won several awards, including the 2016 Scottish Children's Book Award for Mouse's First Night at Moonlight School.

Abie Longstaff is the eldest of six children and grew up in Australia, Hong Kong and France. She knows all about squabbling and bossing younger sisters around so she began her career as a barrister.

She started writing when her children were born. Her books include The Fairytale Hairdresser series and The Magic Potions Shop books. She has a life-long love of fairy tales and mythology and her work is greatly influenced by these themes.

Abie got the idea for the Trapdoor Mysteries from her parents' house in France. The house is big and old, with lots of rooms and outbuildings. In one of the bedrooms, there is a secret entrance hidden in a fireplace. It leads to a room that was used by the French Resistance during the war. It was the perfect idea for a book!

Abie lives with her family by the seaside in Hove.

Narinder Dhami was born in Wolverhampton of an Indian father and English mother. She taught in primary schools for nine years but now writes full-time. Her other books include the novelisation of the film Bend It Like Beckham and the recently published Bindi Babes.

Marion Lindsay has always loved stories and pictures, so it made perfect sense when she decided to become a children's book illustrator, and she won the Egmont Best New Talent Award.

She lives and works in Cambridge, and in her spare time paints glass and makes jewellery. 

Steve May is an animation director & freelance illustrator based in London. Steve was born in 1968 in sunny Hastings and spent his childhood drawing and discovering interesting ways of injuring himself.

After studying Fine Art and film-making and touring with an unsuccessful pop band, Steve completed an MA in Animation at the Royal College of Art. He has gone on to illustrate books by Jeremy Strong, Philip Reeve and Phil Earle, as well as the Dennis the Menace series.

As an animation director his films Anger & Rabbits won the Association of Illustrators Gold New Media Award. Steve has directed a variety of work for commercials & television. Steve now lives in glamorous north London & his mum says he's a genius.

Thomas Docherty is an acclaimed author and illustrator of children's picture books including Little Boat, Big Scary Monster, and the Driftwood Ball. The Snatchabook, which was written by his wife Helen, has been shortlisted for several awards in the UK and US and been translated into 17 languages.