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.

Ruth Millington is an art historian and author, researching and writing about great artists, muses and masterpieces. For her first adult art book, Muse, Ruth worked like an art detective, uncovering the real-life people found in famous portraits. She has appeared on TV and radio, telling stories about Surrealism, Frida Kahlo and other artists from around the world. She was brought up on the sunny island of Bermuda but now lives in the rainier city of Birmingham in England. When she is not working, Ruth loves to read, sing along to music and decorate her home with lots and lots of art. She also likes to drink tea and paint pictures, and sometimes dips brushes in her mug by accident!

Ellen Surrey is an illustrator out of sunny Los Angeles, California. Blending her love of mid-century design and vintage children’s books, Ellen enjoys finding beauty in the past and colourfully sharing it with a contemporary audience. She’s illustrated many books about inspirational people, including Dolly Parton! Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The New Yorker, and The Los Angeles Times. When she isn’t working, Ellen enjoys watching old movies and visiting her favourite thrift stores.

Deborah started illustrating as a child and now has more than 40 picture books and several awards with her name on them. She lives in London with her partner and two cats and when she’s not drawing, painting or snipping paper, you’ll find her messing around with horses, messing around in the sea, or searching for bats and moths.

Angela Keoghan is a former photographer turned illustrator from New Zealand. She spent much of her childhood surrounded by animals, drawing, reading, making huts and having adventures in the rural pastures ofthe Waikato. She graduated with a Bachelor of Media Arts with Honours in 2002 from WINTEC and since 2009 has been full time illustrating, working on projects ranging from editorial, product illustration, advertising and publishing. She loves texture and her whimsical illustration uses a mixture of media created on and off the computer. Angela lives in the countryside with her husband and business partner, Jayden, and their dog ‘Mr Woods’.

Caryl Hart is an award-winning children’s author who writes picture books and young fiction. She runs creative literacy workshops for schools, libraries, communities and festivals. The Girl who Planted Trees won Teach Early Years Best Picture Book Award 2022 and was chosen as one of the best books of 2022 by the Children’s Laureate, Joseph Coelho.

Meet the Oceans was one of Waterstones’ Best Books for Babies & Toddlers 2021 and Books for Topics’ Best EYFS Curriculum Support 2021, and Girls Can Do Anything was shortlisted for the Independent Bookshop Week Book Award 2019.

Her best-selling Princess series has sold over a quarter of a million copies, and her books are published in numerous languages all over the world.

Caryl lives in Sheffield with her family and loves walking in the hills, cycling and wild swimming.