Grace Habib graduated with BFA in Illustration at Columbus College of Art and Design, Ohio, USA. After graduating, she started working at a greeting card company as a kids card designer.
Soon after, she found her passion as a children’s illustrator. In her free time she enjoys nature parks, visiting local bakeries, and coffee shops. She lives in Bellingham, Washington, USA with her husband and daughter.
Born in Warwickshire, Richard Jones has been living and working in Devon for over 20 years. After leaving university with a first class degree in graphic design and illustration, he stayed on a little longer to complete a PhD.
He spent several years working in a busy children’s library, issuing and shelving other artists’ picture books, before one day wondering if it wasn’t about time he had a proper go at creating one or two himself!
Richard now writes and illustrates from the smallest room in his home. Across the roof tops of Exeter, and between the rounded Devon hills, he can just about make out the distant sparkling sea.
Sara Ogilvie was born in Edinburgh and now lives in Newcastle. She graduated with an Illustration/Printmaking degree from Edinburgh College of Art. Sarah has won numerous awards for her work including a Commonwealth Heads of Government commission, presented to Nelson Mandela and HRH Queen Elizabeth II. Her work is inspired by words, street life, antiquities, posters, old wives tales, household appliances, carpets, masks, trying to spell sounds, packaging and old second-hand bookshops…
Jonathan Emmett worked as an architect before becoming a children’s author and novelty book designer, which may explain the inspiration behind Alphabet Street, a novelty book in the form of a street elevation.
Jonathan is the author of over sixty books, including Bringing Down the Moon and The Princess and the Pig and his work has been translated into over thirty different languages. He likes building things and taking things apart, playing games and solving puzzles and letting his imagination run riot.
You can find out more about Jonathan and his books at his website: jonathanemmett.com
For as long as she can remember, Kate McLelland has loved drawing and painting. Outdoor holidays with her family inspired hours of doodling animals and nature. She is the illustrator for Press Out and Colour: Christmas and Easter, and has a number of books being published, including Blackbird, Blackbird, What Do You Do? (Hodder Children’s Books) and What’s Below? (Egmont). Kate lives in West Lothian with her husband and two children.
Kevin and Kristen Howdeshell are a husband-and-wife illustration team known as The Brave Union. Kevin and Kristen began collaborating over ten years ago on their senior thesis stop-motion animation, “A Very Hairy Christmas.” (A werewolf Christmas story, of course). Since then, they’ve started a studio and taken on the freelance world of illustration working on projects for magazines, packaging, t-shirts, music albums, and, their absolute love, children’s books.
Louise Lockhart is from Yorkshire and has her studio in a renovated cotton mill where she also lives with her young family. Since she was a child she has made picture books (usually about cats). She takes inspiration from everyday things around her that others may overlook.
She loves to spend her time working on children’s books alongside creating fun and bright designs for clients such as M&S and Mini Boden. She creates her work by cutting out shapes from paper and scans them into the computer to add colour and texture. She loves the colours of mid-century textiles and the tenderness and humour you find in folk art. She started her shop The Printed Peanut in 2012 and is known for her line of delightfully bright illustrated products.
Alexandra Beever has been a detective with Thames Valley Police for 15 years. Following a science degree at university, she competed at the Olympics and won a gold medal at the World Championships as part of the GB Rowing Team.
After seven years as a full-time athlete, a career in policing appealed to Alexandra as it combined her interests in law and supporting others to make better life choices with her passion for the outdoors, being active and working as part of a team.
Once the work day has finished, Alex enjoys spending time with her daughter, their miniature dachshunds, Boo-Boo and Coconut, and pony George. She also loves taking trips to the seaside and catching up with friends.
Ella Risbridger is a writer from London. Her first cook book, Midnight Chicken (& Other Recipes Worth Living For), was named a Book Of The Year 2019 by half a dozen different publications, including The Times, The Daily Mail, and The Observer. The Secret Detectives is her debut children’s book.
Anna Shepeta is an illustrator, painter, and ceramicist. Anna enjoys portraying strong female characters and the fighting spirit! When she’s not creating magical art, Anna likes to bake rainbow biscuits and watch detective series. And she really likes making to-do lists.