As the longest serving female Blue Peter presenter, from 1997 to 2008, Konnie Huq is no stranger to the middle-grade market. She is an ambassador for the Prince’s Trust and the British Asian Trust. Cookie is inspired by Konnie’s own London Bangladeshi background, her love of science and her unashamed nerdiness! She has also written Fearless Fairy Tales with James Kay, a hilarious and anarchic collection of classic bedtime stories for young readers.

Photo Credit: © Lara Downie.

Nicola Davies is the author of over 80 books for children – fiction, non fiction and poetry. Her work has been translated into more than ten different languages and focuses on the natural world.

Hannah Gold is the multi-award winning, bestselling author of The Last Bear, The Lost Whale, Finding Bear and Turtle Moon. An ambassador for Whale and Dolphin Conservation, she lives in the UK with her tortoise, her cat and her husband.

Jim Field is an illustrator, character designer and animation director. Jim lives in the French countryside with his wife and daughter. He is best known for his collaborations with Rachel Bright The Lion Inside, Kes Gray Oi Frog! and with Julian Gough on the Rabbit & Bear series.

Photo Credit: © Debra Hurford Brown.

Charlie Higson is an author, actor, producer, comedian, screenwriter and one of the creators and stars of the Fast Show. He has followed up his best-selling series ‘Young Bond’ & ‘The Enemy’ with ‘Worst. Holiday. Ever’, and its sequel, ‘Worst. Superhero. Ever’ out in August 2024.

Sharon King-Chai is an award-winning designer and illustrator. Having grown up in Australia, she moved to London in 2003 and since then has brought her style and eye for beautiful design to album artwork, book covers, stationery and her own books Lucy Ladybird, Snail Mail and Animalphabet, a collaboration with Julia Donaldson. Sharon has a passion for innovation, and her artwork and clever use of paper cutting encourage the reader to think differently about the pages they hold in their hands.

Francesca Simon is universally known for the staggeringly popular Horrid Henry series. These books and CDs have sold over 20 million copies in the UK alone and are published in 27 countries. Horrid Henry and the Abominable Snowman won the Children’s Book of the Year award in 2008 at the British Book Awards. She is also the author of Costa-shortlisted The Monstrous Child and Hack and Whack, her first picture book.

James Jones is an award-winning art director, designer and illustrator. He loves to surf and practice kung fu. He lives in Cornwall with his family.

Photo Credit: © John Hersey.

Ken Wilson-Max is an award-winning author, illustrator, and publisher of children’s books. He was born in Zimbabwe and lives in London and has over 75 books published worldwide. Ken also advocates for a more inclusive publishing industry and is mentor to artists and writers from around the world.

Adam Kay is a former doctor who has somehow sold over five million books. He lives in Oxfordshire with his husband, two children, dog called Pippin and beloved BAFTA.

Photo Credit: © Charlie Clift.

Amanda Addison is an award-winning author of books for adults and children. She is inspired by travel, textiles, and the natural world, and often explores themes of home and belonging in her writing.

Sita Brahmachari is the Waterstones Award winning writer of children’s and young adult fiction whose many celebrated novels, plays, poems and short stories explore themes of environmental protection, global child rights and belonging.

Ruthine’s illustrations appear in ‘Roots of Love’ (Scholastic 2024), ‘Spin’ and ‘Our Rights’ (Otter-Barry Books), ‘The Offline Diaries’, ‘Stories for Seven Year Olds’ and ‘Stories for Eight Year Olds’ (HarperCollins Children’s).

Tracey Cordorey – Tracey grew up in South Wales, on a council estate sandwiched between the steel and chemical works. She’s a trained teacher, but now writes in an ancient cottage in the woods. A multi-award-winning author, Tracey just loves telling stories!

Peter Bently is the award-winning author of over seventy books. His bestselling titles include OCTOPUS SHOCKTOPUS! (illustrated by Steven Lenton), which won the Children’s Book Award 2022. Peter currently lives in London.

2024 marks the 10th anniversary of David’s epic wish-fulfilment debut adventure, The Parent Agency, which won the inaugural Laugh Out Loud Award, with sales over 355,000 copies worldwide. Since then his books have celebrated exceptional success in the UK and international markets with global English language sales now reaching over 2.5 million copies with translations into 30 languages. His children’s books have received critical acclaim and won some of children’s books’ highest accolades. This autumn, Small Fry, illustrated by Cory Loftis, will publish in hardback on the 10th October.

Rashmi Sirdeshpande is an award-winning children’s author and was BookTrust Writer in Residence from March-August 2024. A former World Book Day author, she writes uplifting picture books and illustrated non-fiction.

Victoria Williamson is an award-winning author and former teacher who has worked in China, Africa and the UK. Victoria writes children’s books for the education company Twinkl and spends the rest of her time writing novels, visiting schools and festivals, and running creative writing workshops.

Viola Wang is a children’s book author and illustrator based in London. Her work focuses on diversity and inclusion, telling stories that empower young readers.

David Litchfield is an award winning children’s book illustrator and author living with his little family in Bedfordshire. He loves to make pictures with lots of textures, colour and light.

Jenny Pearson has been awarded six mugs, one fridge magnet, one wall plaque and numerous cards for her role as Best Teacher in the World. Her debut novel, The Super Miraculous Journey of Freddie Yates, was shortlisted for the Costa Children’s Book Award, the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize and the Week Junior Book Award and was the winner of the Laugh Out Loud Book Award. She is also the author of several more hilarious and heart-warming reads, including The Incredible Record Smashers, Grandpa Frank’s Great Big Bucket List, The Boy Who Made Monsters, Operation Nativity and her latest book, Shipwrecked.

Photo Credit: © Emma Baxter

Naomi Jones is an award-winning children’s author whose books have been published into 19 languages. Naomi lives with her family and their dog in Cornwall.

Photo Credit: © John Hersey.

Linda Newbery spends much of her time campaigning for animals and the environment. Best known as an author of fiction, she’s recently published THIS BOOK IS CRUELTY FREE – ANIMALS AND US.

Rikin studied art at the Camberwell College of Arts and the University of Westminster. He has since worked designing monsters for the film industry and selling books for a national chain. Rik’s latest picture book Rabbit on the Rampage was written by Lorna Watson and published by Walker books this year. When he’s not drawing you’ll probably find him at the cinema or at Comic Con.

Jane Ray has illustrated around 70 books for children, sometimes writing her own stories, sometimes working with authors including Michael Rosen, Jeanette Winterson, Sita Brahmachari and Kevin Crossley Holland. She was the IBBY UK nominee for the 2018 Hans Christian Andersen Award. Jane is Artist-in-Residence at the Islington Centre for Refugees and Migrants.

Chitra Soundar is an award-winning author of children’s books, an oral storyteller and creator of kids TV. Chitra regularly visits schools, libraries to inspire children to tell their own stories. She is a big advocate of sustainability and green living practices and has written many books and stories that touch upon green topics.

‘I used to sell hotdogs at the zoo but I ended up with my dream job – writing and illustrating children’s books. I’ve worked on many books over the years either writing, illustrating or both.’ (Sue Hendra)

Sophy Henn is an award-winning picture book author and illustrator, who has created board books, picture books, illustrated fiction and graphic novels. She also drinks many, many cups of tea.

Benji Davies is an award-winning picture book writer and artist whose work has been published in over forty languages. By immersing themselves in his stories, Benji hopes that children will find a quiet confidence with which to navigate the real world.

A. M. DASSU is the internationally acclaimed author of 13 children’s books including Boy, Everywhere and Fight Back and Kicked Out, which have collectively been listed for over 50 awards.

Gill Lewis is a children’s author, vet and environmental campaigner. She writes books about animals and our human relationship with the wild world. Her books have won the US Green Earth Book Award, German Prize for Environmental Youth Literature and she has been awarded the Little Rebels Special Commendation for her contribution to political/radical children’s fiction.

Axel Scheffler is an award-winning, internationally-acclaimed illustrator best known for creating with author Julia Donaldson the children’s classic picture book, The Gruffalo. It has sold over 17 million copies, in 105 countries throughout the world.

Photo Credit: © Liam Jackson

M. G. Leonard has made up stories ever since she was a little girl. Back then, adults called them lies or tall tales, so she didn’t write them down. Now, she makes up stories about beetles, birds, trains or anything that sparks her imagination. She is the vice president of the insect charity Buglife, and a founding author of Authors4Oceans.

Steven Lenton is the author/illustrator of the Genie and Teeny series, also the ‘How To Grow…’ series written by Rachel Morrisroe and the illustrator for Frank Cottrell-Boyce, Children’s Laureate 2024-26.

Laura Ellen Anderson is the author & illustrator of the Amelia Fang series, Rainbow Grey and Marnie Midnight, as well as the Evil Emperor Penguin comics. Laura lives in Brighton, and in-between working on her books, she enjoys making 3D models, creating fan art and collecting stamps.

A.F. Harrold is a poet, performer and children’s author who writes funny and strange things.

Hi, I’m Amy Hope. I live with unseen disabilities in Sussex. I love food, nature, animals, and of course drawing! Line drawing and mixing media are my happy place and my other passion is taking care of the planet!

Sarah is a bit of a magpie. She has a PhD (on literature and film from the late 1920s) and is as at home reading comics as she is picking through Freud or obscure poetry. Her illustration style is all about smudgey pencil lines and texture.

I love creating worlds for people to become immersed in, that make the mundane, magical and magnify the ordinary to become extraordinary. My inspiration comes from being outdoors in woodlands, oceans and the city with an interest in how we look after the planet and how creatures big and small view the world.

Jacinta Read is a British artist and writer currently based in the mountains of southern California, where she enjoys regular visits from the local black bears.

Debora is a Brazilian-Japanese illustrator, children’s author, and facilitator currently based in Ireland. Her passion for illustration stems from her connections to family and ancestry. She loves to share her love for colour and drawing through emotionally resonant art and stories.

Bryony makes vibrantly colourful illustrations, packed with texture and sweet, funny characters. She loves to illustrate for children and is currently working on creating her own picture book dummies.

Leanne is an LGBTQIA+ artist working from a cosy studio drawing quirky, whimsical characters with silliness and depth inspired by nature, fantasy and the small things that make a big difference.

Takako is a London based illustrator and printmaker. Growing up in rural Japan naturally influenced her to create with layers of colour.

Emily is an award winning author and illustrator, who has been making innovative picture books for over twenty years. Bothered by Bugs is a colourful celebration of nature’s equilibrium and promises fun, laughter and learning.

Dr Jess French is a vet, zoologist and author who loves to write about the natural world – from explaining how animal bodies work to adventuring in lands of made up beasts. Beast Lands is the first instalment in an epic new fantasy adventure series.

Chris Haughton is an Irish author/illustrator based in London. He was listed in Time magazine’s ‘DESIGN 100’ for the work he has been doing for fair trade clothing company People Tree. He has written and illustrated seven books A BIT LOST, OH NO GEORGE!, SHH! WE HAVE A PLAN, GOODNIGHT EVERYONE, DON’T WORRY LITTLE CRAB, MAYBE and WELL DONE, MUMMY PENGUIN. His non-fiction title THE HISTORY OF INFORMATION comes out in September 2024.

As a science writer, contemporary artist and children’s book author-illustrator from Germany and New Zealand, Larissa works on children’s fiction and non-fiction, aiming to inspire and spark curiosity, laughter, and self-love through her work.

Natasha Taroghion Budd is an illustrator, artist, writer and teacher from London. She was inspired by her work as a primary school teacher, and her own children to begin to create stories and illustrations. If not drawing outside, Natasha loves exploring museums, galleries and heritage buildings.

Rob Biddulph is a bestselling and multi award-winning children’s author/illustrator whose books include I Follow the Fox, the Peanut Jonesseries, Blown Away, Show and Tell and Odd Dog Out. On 21 May 2020 he broke the Guinness World Record for the largest online art class when 45,611 households tuned in to his live #DrawWithRob YouTube class, and in July 2020 he was named as a Point of Light by the British Prime Minister. He lives in London with his wife, their three daughters, and Ringo the dog.

Joseph Coelho OBE is an award-winning poet, playwright and writer. His first poetry collection, Werewolf Club Rules!, won the CLPE Children’s Poetry Award in 2015, and he has been writing and performing ever since. Joseph was the Waterstones Children’s Laureate from 2022-2024 and his latest title is the thrilling adventure Relic Hamilton: Genie Hunter.

Laura Dockrill, a graduate of the Brit School of Performing Arts, is a performance poet, an author and an illustrator. At the age of twenty-two, she was named one of The Times’ “Top Ten Literary Stars”. She is the author of the bestselling Darcy Burdock series, the first of which was shortlisted for the Waterstones Book of the Year prize. Her debut picture book, and first collaboration with Maria Karipidou, was Angry Cookie.

Christopher Edge is an award-winning children’s author whose books have been translated into more than twenty languages. The Infinite Lives of Maisie Day won the STEAM Children’s Book Prize and his last four novels were nominated for the prestigious CILIP Carnegie Medal. Before becoming a writer, he worked as an English teacher, editor and publisher – any job that let him keep a book close to hand.

Liz Pichon started her career in the music industry, working as an album cover designer and art director before becoming a children’s book author and illustrator. As well as the multi-million bestselling Tom Gates series, Liz is the creator of many picture books and stand-alone middle-grade adventure, Shoe Wars. Liz presents ‘Draw It’ sections in The Brilliant World of Tom Gates TV series. She co-wrote the script and wrote all the songs.

Photo Credit © Clara Molden

Chris Riddell, the 2015-2017 UK Children’s Laureate, is an accomplished artist and the political cartoonist for the Observer. He has enjoyed great acclaim for his books for children. His books have won a number of major prizes, including the 2001, 2004 and 2016 CILIP Kate Greenaway Medals. Goth Girl and the Ghost of a Mouse won the Costa Children’s Book Award 2013. His work for Macmillan also includes the bestselling Ottoline books, The Emperor of Absurdia, and, with Paul Stewart, the Muddle Earth books, the Scavenger series and the Blobheads series. Chris has been honoured with an OBE in recognition of his illustration and charity work. He lives in Brighton with his family.

David Roberts is an award-winning illustrator. After graduating, he worked as a milliner and a fashion illustrator, but always felt his true calling was in children’s books. He has collaborated with some of Britain’s finest children’s authors, including Julia Donaldson, Sally Gardner, Philip Ardagh and Jacqueline Wilson and is the illustrator of Julian Clary’s The Bolds. He is also the creator of the popular Dirty Bertie books. He lives in London with his husband. He has been twice-shortlisted for the Kate Greenaway Medal, and in 2006 he won the Nestlé Children’s Book Prize Gold Award.

Alex T. Smith has drawn and written stories since he could hold a pencil. After considering several career options (space traveller, cake maker, professional rabbit), Alex decided to train to do the job he’d wanted to do since he was five – an illustrator specialising in the world of children’s publishing. Alex has gone on to work for a wide variety of clients, not just in the publishing industry, as well as writing and illustrating his own picture books. Alex is also the creator of the bestselling Claude series for early readers, which appear in their own TV series on Disney Junior. His much-loved How Winston Delivered Christmas, How Winston Came Home from Christmas, The Grumpus and the witty retelling of The Twelve Days of Christmas, or Grandma is Overly Generous are all set to become future Christmas classics.

Katie and Kevin Tsang are bestselling and award-winning children’s authors, who met in 2008 while studying at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Katie and Kevin’s first book together, Sam Wu Is Not Afraid Of Ghosts, was adapted for the stage by London’s Polka Theatre in 2024. They are the co-writers of the bestselling Dragon Realm series, the Dragon Force trilogy, and the Space Blasters books. Katie and Kevin are passionate about writing imaginative, engaging and inclusive fiction that gets children excited about reading.

Photo Credit © Olivia McDermott

Catherine Barr is a leading author on science and nature topics for young children. Her previous titles include Red Alert: 15 Endangered Animals Fighting to Survive; Invisible Nature: A Secret World Beyond Our Senses (winner of the Teach Primary science book prize) and Wildlife Crossings: Protecting Animal Pathways Around the World. Catherine lives near Hay-on-Wye, in Herefordshire.

Scott Butler is a business, sustainability and tech expert with over 20 years’ experience working for Material Focus,  European Recycling Platform (ERP), Samsung, Science Museum Group, Royal Mail and the Environment Agency.  He has led and set up successful and innovative environmental, sustainability and behaviour change programmes.

Debbie’s passion for seals began at the age of seven, igniting a lifelong commitment to marine conservation. She is a dedicated Marine Mammal Medic for the British Divers Marine Life Rescue and an active member of the Seal Research Trust. Her deep love for animals and conservation drives her work, including writing a non-fiction children’s book about marine conservation and illustrating for organisations like the Wildlife Trust. Debbie is currently the Programme Leader for Publishing and Senior Lecturer for Creative Writing at Manchester Metropolitan University.

Adam is an award-winning author and illustrator of children’s books and a passionate sketchbook-filler. He lives and works beside the sea in Brighton.

Justin Francis is the founder of Responsible Travel, the world’s first and largest responsible holiday company.

Sarah is a freelance illustrator with a Masters Degree from Cambridge School of Art in Children’s Book Illustration. She worked for 15 years in Children’s publishing and has exhibited her award-winning work across the UK, as well as running workshops for Museums and Galleries such as Quentin Blake’s Centre for Illustration. She enjoys observing people and the world around her closely due to deafness and autism, and aims to embrace these details in her work.

Philip Ardagh is a prolific writer who has been published in over 40 languages around the world. His titles include Bunnies on the Busand Bunnies in a Boat, illustrated by Ben Mantle, the Eddie Dickens trilogy, High in the Clouds, co-written with Sir Paul McCartney, and Stinking Richand Just Plain Stinky, which won the Roald Dahl Funny Prize. He has also collaborated with illustrator Elissa Elwick on the Little Adventurers trilogy of picture books and You Can’t Count on Dinosaurs.

Photo Credit © Dominic Turner

Mary Portas is a Brand & Retail Expert, Broadcaster, author of Work like a Woman and Rebuild: How to thrive in the new Kindness Economyand Creative Founder at Portas.