Sally Nicholls was born in Stockton-on-Tees, just after midnight, in a thunderstorm. She spent most of her childhood trying to make real life as much like a book as possible.

Her first book, Ways to Live Forever, won the Waterstones Children's Book Prize in 2008 and in 2015 her book An Island of Our Own was shortlisted for the Costa children's prize. Sally lives in a little house in Oxford, writing stories and trying to believe her luck.

Carolina Rabei comes from Moldova and gained a distinction in illustration at the Cambridge School of Art. Her style is a unique mix of traditional and digital techniques.

She is also the illustrator of the forthcoming Tickle Beetle collection of play rhymes for Otter-Barry Books.