Matt Brown is an author and broadcaster based in the UK. He has written eight books for children, including Mutant Zombies Cursed My School Trip which won the FCBG Children’s Book Award in 2020. Before dyeing his hair grey for fashion reasons, Matt presented on some of the UK’s most popular TV shows and he has been on the radio a lot, hosting shows and making documentaries. He is a passionate promoter of reading for pleasure in schools as well as an advocate of saving public libraries.

Matt is not considered dangerous (unless you get him talking about either his favourite trousers or Manchester United). Chats with him on either of these subjects may lead to death-by-boredom. Also, he does NOT look good in hats.

Flavia Sorrentino lives and works as a freelance illustrator in Rome, where she grew up.
She loves her city and the figure of speech, “Rome wasn’t built in a day”, which inspires her each day to seek new ways of communication and expression. She has worked hard on her technique which has taken her across the globe, from France to America and beyond! She has a true passion for Toulouse Lautrec, poetry, historical costume, typography, Tina Turner and tomato sauce!

Alex Barrow is Art Director for the popular science and arts themed children’s magazine OKIDO, as well as a children’s books illustrator. His first book for children, A Possum’s Tail, was published in 2014 and was quickly nominated for the 2015 Cilip Kate Greenaway Medal. He is the award-winning illustrator of the series If I had a pet, written by poet Gabby Dawnay. The first title, If I had a Dinosaur, won the ‘Made for Mums’ Silver Award. In his spare time, Alex plays the accordion in his band MALPHINO!

Ross Collins’s primary 1 teacher, Mrs Spears, told his parents that he should go to art school. 13 years went by until he was finally ‘old enough’ to get into the Glasgow School of Art. Can you believe that? – 13 years. On graduating he won the Macmillan Prize for his first picture book. Since then he’s illustrated over 100 books for children and written a few of them too. Several of them have won enormous glittering awards which he keeps in a box in Latvia. Ross’s book The Elephantom was recently adapted into a critically acclaimed play by those clever people at the National Theatre who made that War Horse thing. When he’s not creating children’s books he enjoys working on character development for animation studios like Laika and Disney. He also likes walking in the Scottish glens with his dog Hugo, who is an idiot, and his partner Jacqui and son Ridley, who are not.

Ben is a bestselling wildlife writer who still can’t quite believe that being a nature nerd is actually what he does for a living. After studying at the University of Cambridge he became an editor of children’s non-fiction, then worked at BBC Wildlife Magazine, where he went in search of everything from leafcutter ants to whale sharks and met many of his heroes in conservation and natural-history TV. After that Ben became a full-time writer. A massive fan of libraries, he loves discovering cool facts about weird and wonderful species. He keeps chickens and used to be a beekeeper. His top tip? Never be sick in your snorkel.

Karen Obuhanych is an author-illustrator living on the Big Island of Hawaii with her family, including two crazy cats, a spotted pig dog, various fish, and one glowing axolotl. She wrote and illustrated This Little Kitty and This Little Kitty in the Garden and has illustrated several books for young readers. Inspired by Hawaii and the simple joys in life, you will often find Karen drawing or cutting bits of paper to capture the everyday moments that make us smile. Karen’s favorite way to say hello is “Smile, smile . . . WAVE!”

Angel is a children’s author who believes that stories are a bit like magic, especially when they are read aloud or wandered into all on their own.

She loves writing funny, heartfelt, or meaningful tales that bring children and their grown-ups closer together. When she isn’t doing that, Angel can usually be found laughing with her family, exploring nature somewhere or dancing around to her favourite music.

Chris Becker is a second grade teacher from New York who spends his days reading silly stories, tying shoelaces, answering endless questions, and helping kids discover a love of books. He’s passionate about storytelling, both in and out of the classroom, and believes there’s nothing better than a read-aloud that makes everyone laugh.
When he’s not teaching, Chris loves running (he’s finished a few marathons), hanging with friends and family, and spending time with his dog Oliver and cat Jasper.
His debut picture book, The Perfect Match, is just the beginning-he’s excited to keep writing stories that connect with kids and spark joy.

Dan Taylor was born in Staffordshire UK and has been working as children’s illustrator for over 15 years. Dan’s most recently illustrated book Papa’s Coming Home written by Chasten Buttigieg and published by Penguin made it to the New York Times Bestseller list. Dan is also illustrator of the Mini Heroes of the Forest series by Auzou which has been adapted into a preschool series for French and Italian tv and is soon to be shown in more countries.

Dan finds much of his inspiration from 1950’s and 60’s design and creates his illustrations digitally combining hand painted textures and elements and putting it all together using his trusty iPad. When not illustrating, Dan also teaches art to children with special educational needs – and when he’s not teaching, he can be found napping, trying to stay healthy and enjoying his time with family and friends.

Rachel is a tremendous ambassador for football and at one time was the highest capped player in England across both the men’s and women’s game.

Starting her career at Arsenal she moved on to short spells in Canada and the USA before becoming the first professional female footballer in 2000 when she joined Fulham. Rachel then joined Birmingham before returning to Arsenal.

Rachel runs her own business coaching football in schools and is very passionate about her work and having a positive impact in education. She is involved in various campaigns outside of football utilising interest in the game to reach wider issues.

Also well known for her media work as presenter of Cbeebies ‘Footy Pups’ as well as doing punditry for the BBC, BT, SKY, ITV and as a guest on various other shows and news shows.

Rachel was awarded an MBE in 2006 and an OBE in 2014 for her services to football.