Barry grew up in Cornwall. He spent his early years mending pop-up books brought home from the library by his mum. Vast swathes of Sellotape were involved.

In the late 90s, Barry moved to London to study Fine Art at Central Saint Martins. By a twist of fate, he later secured an editorial job at Walker Books. He's been editing children's books ever since.

More recently, Barry has been writing picture books of his own. He loves the knotty puzzle of structuring a story over so few pages. Even better is the rush of excitement when a solution lands in the shower, or while walking the streets of South London. That's a feeling worth its weight in gold.

Margarita Kukhtina is a children's book illustrator living in Moscow, Russia with her husband and a cat. She has loved drawing and painting for as long as she can remember. After graduating as a Master of Fine Arts, Margarita worked as a graphic designer, creating personal projects in her spare time that helped her find her true passion in illustrating children's books. She works in mixed media, combining traditional and digital techniques to create playful and atmospheric illustrations.