Spike Gerrell
(Ally’s World, Stella Etc, ‘Marshmallow Magic And The Wild Rose Rouge’)
Spike Gerrell lives in Crouch End (just like Ally) with his girlfriend Kaz, three-year-old son Ethan and baby daughter Stevie Jasmine.
Spike has loved drawing since he was younger than Tor and has continued to draw and paint ever since. He is now a freelance illustrator and gets to draw pictures all day and gets paid for it too. It certainly beats having a proper job.
Spike also loves playing football and still believes he might, some day, get selected to play football for England, although he does admit that it’s starting to look pretty unlikely, mainly because he’s more than unusually rubbish and also very old.
Spike’s very favourite thing however, is being with Ethan and Stevie, both of whom are extremely cute and lovely.
You can check out some more of Spike’s work at www.landofspike.co.uk

Lydia Monks
(Indie Kidd)
Lydia has illustrated over fifty books, and has written quite a few herself. She, like Karen, started off working for magazines like 'Sugar' and 'J17' before she wrote her own book, 'I Wish I Were A Dog'. Her other books include, 'Aaaarrgghh, Spider', and 'No More Eee-Orrh!'.
When she’s not illustrating her own books, she illustrates other peoples'. She has illustrated books by Julia Donaldson (author of 'The Gruffalo'), and Roger McGough's poetry books.
Lydia lives in Sheffield with her husband Frazer, who is also an illustrator, their little girl Ava, and baby Scarlett, who can't draw yet.