Alex Smith
Alex was born in Coventry in 1985 and has drawn from the moment he could hold a pencil. He remembers very clearly sitting at the dining table as a toddler and drawing a teddy bear and knowing that it was a bear even though to everyone else it looked like a circle and some scribbles! As a child Alex considered careers in cooking, space travel and being a rabbit, but he always found himself being drawn to the world of children's books. Alex graduated in 2003, and luckily started working as a children's book writer and illustrator straight away. From then he has collaborated with several very talented writers as well as creating his own picture books and the Claude series of young fiction stories. He has also worked for a variety of clients ranging from ad agencies to magazines to a well-known supermarket. Alex works in a little studio in York and is 'assisted' by his four very tiny, very naughty dogs. The Ancient Yorkie, Lucy Locket; the Big Chihuahua, Bella Boo; the Medium Chihuahua, Benji Boy and the smallest and naughtiest of them all, the Tiny Chihuahua, Mr. Billy Bongo. When he's not writing and illustrating, Alex enjoys a nice cup of tea and a sit down (especially if this involves a slice of cake or a biscuit!).
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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, son Ethan and 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
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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, and their daughters Ava and Scarlett.