John Yeoman wrote his first children's book after leaving Cambridge University, where he read English. This began a collaboration with Quentin Blake which has continued for over forty years. John taught for twenty-eight years, before retiring to spend more time writing, reading and relaxing in France.

Quentin Blake has been drawing ever since he can remember. He taught illustration for over twenty years at the Royal College of Art, of which he is an honorary professor.

He has won many prizes, including the Hans Christian Andersen Award for Illustration, the Eleanor Farjeon Award and the Kate Greenaway Medal, and in 1999 he was appointed the first Children’s Laureate.

In the 2013 New Year’s Honours List he was knighted for services to illustration.