Amy Sparkes

Amy Sparkes writes books for children of all ages. She was born in Eastbourne, England, and enjoyed a wild imagination when she was a child (which included thirteen imaginary friends). Amy lives in Devon, England, with her husband and five young children. When she's not off on an adventure with them, Amy enjoys drinking tea, climbing trees, and dancing. She is yet to master doing all three at the same time. Learn more at AmySparkes.co.uk.

Ben Mantle was born in Leamington Spa and developed a very early interest in things artistic, designing programme covers for school productions and even coming first in his local library colouring-in competition. From there he went on to study animation at Surrey Institute of Art & Design, graduating in 2003. He then gained valuable experience working on Tim Burton's "Corpse Bride" before moving to Brighton to work as 'Head of Animation' in a media company, focusing on Character and Background design.

He was also part of the Animation team creating the BAFTA winning 'Big and Small' CBeebies website. Since 2008, Ben has been working as a Children's Book Illustrator from his shared studio in Brighton and he also produces screen prints and digital artwork to exhibit. He illustrated 'Callum's Incredible Construction Kit' which won the Bishop's Stortford Picture Book prize 2013.