Mark Sperring fell in love with books after reading
Gobbolino, the Witch’s Cat
as a child. For many years Mark worked in a storeroom unpacking boxes of books before finally writing some of his own. Mark currently lives in Bristol.
Mark Sperring
Authors and illustrators
María Perera
At a very young age María found out that there are few things in life she enjoyed as much as listening to The Beatles and drawing. When she grew up she graduated in Art History at the University of Oviedo and soon after she studied Graphic Design at the Art School of Avilés. Nowadays she still listens to The Beatles and feels fortunate to be able to do what she loves the most for a living: illustration.
Marisa Morea
Louise Taillandier
Louise lives in a lovely flat in London, where she works editing children's books. She loves swing dancing, scouring charity shops for books and records, and finding cute names for her plants. Her greatest dream is having a garden filled with flowers and veggies. She also really wants a dog.
Lauren Crisp
Lauren Crisp is a children’s book editor who is lucky enough to make beautiful books every day. She lives in London but grew up in Yorkshire, and loves long country walks with her dog, Ludo. She enjoys reading, writing and dreaming up fun rhymes for the books she works on.
Laura Silveira
Laura Silveira is a Londoner at heart but now resides in leafy Leicestershire. She earned her BA in Graphic Design at the University for the Creative Arts, Epsom. She has since worked with creative teams large and small, her work featuring on greeting cards, patterns for textiles, packaging, branding, maps, and children's illustrations. Influenced by the late greats Eric Carle and Quentin Blake, she works with a combination of hand-painted textures, Procreate and Photoshop. Her aim is to create rich, textural, characterful, and colourful observations, that have warmth and tell a story. When Laura isn't working, you can find her spending time with her husband and their son, or at her local charity shops, where she volunteers once a week.
Jannie Ho
Jannie Ho loves illustrating books for kids, and sometimes she writes them too. She lives in the greater Boston area with her family and a pet fish, Sir Bubbles. In her free time, she loves drawing herself as a chicken in comics.
Hettie Cox
Hettie Cox originally hails from North London where she spends time with her family, two bunnies and cat Roxie. When she’s not researching fun facts for children’s books or looking over artwork, she’s usually curled up with a cup of tea watching an animated movie (or three!) or practising her singing.
Isabel Otter
Isabel Otter is a children’s book editor and writer. When not writing, you can find her climbing mountains in muddy boots, squirrelled into an armchair with a novel and a cup of tea or tending to her potted plants.
Gareth Lucas
Gareth is an illustrator and designer living in his hometown in Essex, with his beloved wife and five children. After studying at Brighton and Central Saint Martins he has worked on a variety of projects, but enjoys children’s book illustration the most. When he is not working he can be heard indulging his other love – the banjo!