Julia Donaldson is the author of some of the world's best-loved children's books, including modern classics The Gruffalo and The Gruffalo's Child, which together have sold over 17 million copies worldwide, and the hugely successful What the Ladybird Heard adventures. Julia also writes fiction, including the Princess Mirror-Belle books illustrated by Lydia Monks, as well as poems, plays and songs - and her brilliant live shows are always in demand. She was Children's Laureate 2011-13 and has been honoured with an MBE for Services to Literature. Julia and her husband Malcolm divide their time between West Sussex and Edinburgh.

Sharon King-Chai, winner of the 2021 CILIP Kate Greenaway Shadowers' Choice Award for Starbird, is an enormously talented designer and illustrator. Having grown up in Australia, she moved to London in 2003 and since then has brought her style and eye for beautiful design to album covers, book covers, stationery and her books including Starbird and the award-winning Animalphabet, a collaboration with Julia Donaldson. Sharon has a passion for innovation, and her artwork and clever use of paper engineering encourage the reader to think differently about the pages they hold in their hands.