Francesca Simon spent her childhood on the beach in California and started writing stories at the age of eight. She wrote her first Horrid Henry book in 1994. Horrid Henry has gone on to conquer the globe; his adventures are published in 27 languages and have sold millions of copies worldwide.

Francesca has won the Children's Book of the Year Award and been a judge for the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize and the Roald Dahl Funny Prize. In 2009, in one of the proudest moments of her career, Francesca was awarded a Gold Blue Peter badge.

Francesca is also a passionate ambassador for children's literacy and is a trustee of the World Book Day charity. She lives in North London with her family.

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.