Gill Arbuthnott (Author)

Gill Arbuthnott, author of The Keepers’ Daughter, had been writing secretly since she was ten, and only admitted this to her somewhat surprised family when her first book was accepted by a publisher. Her ideas come from all sorts of unlikely...

Peter Bailey (Illustrator)

Peter Bailey is the wonderful illustrator of The Boy in the Biscuit Tin, The Girl With the Broken Wing and The Fish in Room 11 for The Chicken House. He has worked with many fine authors over the years, including Philip Pullman, Michael...

Blue Balliett (Author)

Blue Balliett, author of the fantastic book Chasing Vermeer, was born in New York City. After studying art history in college and attending Brown University, Blue moved to Nantucket Island, in Massachusetts, in order to write. She met her husband...

Sophia Bennett (Author)

Sophia Bennett won The Times/Chicken House Competition 2009 with her fabulous debut children’s novel Threads. Her great loves are art and design, her four children, fashion magazines, cappuccino, her husband and her job (but not necessarily in...

Kirsten Boie (Author)

Kirsten Boie, author of The Princess Plot and its sequel The Princess Trap, was born in Hamburg, where she still lives with her family. Initially working as a secondary school teacher, she began writing after the adoption of her first child, and...

Erin Bow (Author)

Erin Bow, author of Wood Angel, was raised in Omaha where she was fond of tromping through woods and reading books by flashlight. At university she studied particle physics, but soon diverted her attentions to writing. Her poetry has won the CBC...

Kevin Brooks (Author)

Kevin Brooks, author of the young adult novels Martyn Pig, Lucas, Kissing the Rain, Candy, and The Road of The Dead, was born in 1959 and grew up in Exeter, Devon. After school, he moved to London and tried to become a rock star. The book he would...

Melvin Burgess (Author)

Melvin Burgess, award-winning young adult fiction author and writer of the Billy Elliot novelisation for Chicken House, was born in 1954 in Twickenham, but grew up in Sussex and Berkshire. The book he would most like to have written is The Memoirs...

Margaret Chamberlain (Illustrator)

Margaret Chamberlain, illustrator of the picture books Pink! and Lion’s Lunch, grew up in Weybridge, Surrey. Pursuing the only subject she had interest and talent for, Margaret studied art for seven years. With Quentin Blake as her tutor, she...

Lucy Christopher (Author)

Lucy Christopher, author of Stolen and Flyaway, was born in Wales but grew up in Australia, living in Melbourne from the age of nine until she completed her undergraduate degree at Melbourne University. After various attempts at being an...

Caroline Jayne Church (Illustrator)

Caroline Jayne Church is an award-winning author and illustrator renowned for her many picture books, including Harriet Dancing and Leaf Trouble. She was born in 1963 and lives in Farnham, Surrey. Having grown up in Oxfordshire, she later went to...

Emma Clayton (Author)

Emma Clayton, author of The Roar, was born in 1968 and now lives in Leamington Spa with her two children. In her late teens, she trained as a Field Archaeologist with the Oxford Archaeological Unit, then went on to become a freelance illustrator...

Eireann Corrigan (Author)

Eireann Corrigan, author of Accomplice, was born in 1977. She is a graduate of Sarah Lawrence College and New York University. She currently lives in New Jersey with her kitten Sumo.

James Dashner (Author)

James Dashner, author of The Maze Runner, was born and raised in Georgia in the United States. He now lives in the Rocky Mountains with his family. After several years working in finance, he is now a full-time writer.

Emily Diamand (Author)

Emily Diamand, author of Flood Child and its sequel Flood and Fire, grew up in a small town in rural Oxfordshire. She studied Environmental Science at university and says the book she would most like to have written is Holes by Louis Sachar. Emily...

Jimmy Docherty (Author)

Jimmy Docherty, who wrote The Ice Cream Con for Chicken House, is an award-winning copywriter and television commercial director. He was born in Bellshill, Scotland in 1976. After leaving school, Jimmy studied Film, TV and Radio Production in...

Sharon Dogar (Author)

Sharon Dogar, author of Waves and Falling, was born in 1962 just outside Oxford, where she now lives. Among her favourite books are To Kill a Mockingbird, Skellig and Where the Wild Things Are. Her advice for aspiring authors? ‘Read a lot...

Salamanda Drake (Author)

Salamanda Drake, author of the Dragonsdale books, is sixteen years old and lives with her father, a dragon-trader, in the Isles of Bresal. Her love of dragons began at the age of three, when her Da began taking her to fairs and showings around the...

Zoran Drvenkar (Author)

Zoran Drvenkar, author of Tell Me What You See, was born in Croatia in 1967, and moved to Berlin with his parents at the age of three. He has worked as a fulltime author since 1989, and now lives in a renovated corn mill near the German capital. He...

Heather Dyer (Author)

Heather Dyer is the author of The Boy in the Biscuit Tin, The Girl with the Broken Wing, and The Fish in Room 11. She was born in 1970 in Scotland, spent most of her childhood in Wales, and also lived in Canada in a cabin by a lake. After school she...

Jonathan Emmett (Author)

Jonathan Emmett, author of a whole host of picture books including Leaf Trouble for The Chicken House, was born in Leicestershire in 1965. It was while he was at college studying architecture that he first developed his skills as a writer and...

Janet Foxley (Author)

Janet Foxley is the author of Muncle Trogg, the 2010 Times/Chicken House Children's Fiction Competition. Having written all her life, and now in her sixties, Janet is thrilled to see Muncle Trogg published. She now lives in an old farmhouse near...

Vivian French (Author)

Vivian French, much-loved author of The Daddy Goose Collection, has written around 200 books for children. She was first published in 1990, a natural progression after careers in the theatre, counselling and storytelling. Since then, she has...

Cornelia Funke (Author)

Cornelia Funke is the hugely successful author of the Inkheart Trilogy, The Thief Lord and a whole host of other popular children’s novels and picture books. She was born in 1958 in the German town of Dorsten. After finishing her studies...

Emily Gale (Author)

Emily Gale, author of Girl, Aloud, was born in London in 1975. Her nickname as a child was Kojak (for younger readers, that is a 70s television show about a big bald man who sucked lollipops and solved crime). She once very nearly trod dog poo in...

Kerstin Gier (Author)

Kerstin Gier, author of Girl About Time, was born in 1966 and has written many bestselling German women’s titles. She lives in a small village in Germany with her husband and son and a very old black cat.

Roderick Gordon and Brian Williams (Author)

Roderick Gordon, co-author of the Tunnels series, grew up in Highgate, North London. Chronically shy throughout his childhood, he sought refuge in drawing and writing, and had one of his first short stories published in a school magazine...

Brita Granström (Illustrator)

Brita Granström, illustrator of the charming picture book No More Yawning!, grew up on a farm in Sweden. She studied Illustration at Konstfack in Stockholm. Brita is married to fellow illustrator Mick Manning and they live with their children...

Stuart Hill (Author)

Stuart Hill, author of the popular fantasy novels The Cry of the Icemark, Blade of Fire and Last Battle of the Icemark, was born in 1958 and raised in Leicester, England where he still lives. The book he would most like to have written is King...

David Jones (Author)

David Jones, author of Baboon and Meltdown, has written radio plays, scripts for museum exhibits around the world, and even an interactive show at NASA’s Space Center Houston. His non-fiction books cover scientific subjects from robots to...

Elizabeth Kay (Author)

Elizabeth Kay, author of the Divide series, was born in 1949 and lives in Surrey, England. She has wanted to write since she was four. After school, Elizabeth went to art school and did her foundation year at Epsom, then fine art at Nottingham after...

Ingrid Lee (Author)

Ingrid Lee, author of Dog Lost, was born in 1948 and lives in Toronto, Canada. As a child she wanted to be her hero, Madame Curie. The book she would most like to have written is A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Her advice for budding...

Paeony Lewis (Author)

Paeony Lewis, author of the picture books No More Biscuits! and No More Yawning!, was born in 1960 and lives in Norwich, England. After studying Environmental Sciences at university, she turned her hand to writing after the births of her two...

Ross Mackenzie (Author)

Ross MacKenzie is the author of fantasy adventure Zac and the Dream Pirates. He grew up in Renfrew, just outside Glasgow, and knew from a young age that he wanted to be a writer. In fact, he completed his first illustrated book - about a...

Maddy McClellan (Illustrator)

Maddy McClellan, illustrator of Song for a Princess, knew from a very early age that she wanted to be an artist, and still remembers the thrill of being given a brand new box of paints or pens and loving the rainbow of colours waiting to be used...

Anna McQuinn (Author)

Anna McQuinn, author of The Sleep Sheep, was born and grew up in County Kerry on the west coast of Ireland. She went to a small school with only 29 pupils where her dad was one of the two teachers. She always loved reading and would read...

Kerstin Meyer (Illustrator)

Kerstin Meyer, illustrator of the fantastic picture books Princess Pigsty, The Princess Knight and The Wildest Brother, was born in 1966 and lives in Hamburg, Germany. The children’s book she would most like to have written is Winnie the Pooh...

Michael Molloy (Author)

Michael Molloy, author of The Witch Trade, The House on Falling Star Hill and Peter Raven Under Fire, was born in 1940 and lives in Ealing, London. After school he got a job on a newspaper. The book he would most like to have written is The...

Michaela Morgan (Author)

Michaela Morgan, author of the picture books Dear Bunny and Bunny Wishes, divides her time between Brighton and the French Riviera but did most of her growing up in Manchester. After school she went to University to study Literature before teaching...

Rachael Mortimer (Author)

Rachael Mortimer is the author of Song for a Princess for Chicken House and several other picture books. Rachael has always loved fiction and was the heroine in many made up bedtime stories! Her favourite picture book was The Trouble with...

Andrew Newbound (Author)

Andrew Newbound, author of the all-action Demon Strike, grew up on the edges of the Rhubarb Triangle in Yorkshire, wanting to be a private investigator. After school he studied journalism at college, before dropping out to become a debt...

Andrew Peters (Author)

Andrew Fusek Peters, author of Ravenwood, was born 1965 in Hildesheim, Germany, and brought up in London. He has been climbing and talking to trees from the time he was small - so the story of Ravenwood has been a long time in development!...

Daniel Postgate (Author)

Daniel Postgate, author of The Snagglegrollop, is a freelance author, illustrator and cartoonist with over 20 years' experience. His other titles include Smelly Bill, Kevin Saves the World and Big Mum Plum. Daniel’s books are very popular and...

Nick Price (Illustrator)

Nick Price is an established illustrator and artist, specialising in children’s books. He has previously illustrated the Dragonsdale covers, but The Snagglegrollop is his first picture book for The Chicken House.

Rebecca Promitzer (Author)

Rebecca Promitzer, author of The Pickle King, is a successful young writer and director. She has written amongst other things for the children’s television series The Secret of Eel Island and adapted The Fall of the House of Usher for the...

Lynne Rickards (Author)

Lynne Rickards, author of Pink!, was born in 1962 in Canada and grew up in a small Ontario town called Guelph. After school she studied illustration at the Ontario College of Art, and then switched to French Literature at the University of Toronto...

Katherine Roberts (Author)

Katherine Roberts, author of Spellfall, won the inaugural Branford Boase Award for her first novel Song Quest, part of the Echorium trilogy. She is also author of the Seven Fabulous Wonders series (translated into 12 languages so far) and the...

Sarah Rubin (Author)

Sarah Rubin, author of Dreamer Ballerina, grew up on an island off the coast of Maine, spending most of her childhood dressing up, reading, and trying to get lost in the woods. Sarah earned her BA in Creative Writing and History from Skidmore...

Hannah Shaw (Illustrator)

Hannah Shaw, illustrator of The Sleep Sheep, is from a large family of sprout-munching vegetarians. She spent her formative years trying to be good at everything from roller-skating to gymnastics. Hannah studied a degree in illustration at the...

Alan Shea (Author)

Alan Shea, author of The Amazing Mind of Alice Makin, was born in 1945 and grew up in Stepney, London. He now lives in Essex. After school, he became a registered dock-worker, working in gangs unloading and loading ships on the east-end docks in...

Sara Sheridan (Author)

Sara Sheridan, author of the delightful picture book I’m Me! was born in Edinburgh and studied at Trinity College, Dublin. She works in wide range of media and genres and is an experienced public speaker. An active member of the Society of...

C.J. Skuse (Author)

C.J. Skuse, author of Pretty Bad Things, was born in 1980 in Weston-super-Mare, England. Loves: graphic novels, 1980s sitcoms, Gummy Bears and malamutes. Hates: omelettes, carnivals and coughs. The book C.J. would most like to have written is...

Mark Sperring (Author)

Mark Sperring, author of The Fairytale Cake, Wanda’s First Day and Mermaid Dreams, was born in 1963 and grew up in Weston-super-Mare. He now lives in Bristol. After leaving school he went to work at a printer’s preparing artwork and...

Andreas Steinhöfel (Author)

Andreas Steinhöfel, author of The Pasta Detectives for The Chicken House, is an award-winning German writer whose first book for teens, Dirk und Ich, was published in 1991 while he was still at university. His second novel, Paul Vier...

Trenton Lee Stewart (Author)

Trenton Lee Stewart is the New York Times bestselling author of The Mysterious Benedict Society, which won the E. B. White Read Aloud Award for Older Readers, among other honours. Born in 1970, he grew up in Hot Springs, Arkansas, USA and currently...

Allan Stratton (Author)

Allan Stratton is the internationally acclaimed author of Chanda's Secrets, winner of the American Library Association's Michael L. Printz Honor Book, the Children's Africana Book Award, and Booklist's Editor's Choice among others. Allan’s...

Ruth Symes (Author)

Ruth Louise Symes, author of the delightful picture books Harriet Dancing and The Sheep Fairy, is a writer, scriptwriter and writing tutor and lives in the Midlands. Her first book, The Master of Secrets was nominated for the Carnegie Medal and...

Annabel Tellis (Author)

Annabel Tellis, author of If My Dad Were a Dog, was born in 1967 and now divides her time between Victoria, Australia and Leicestershire, England. She grew up in a small village called Swepstone near Ashby-de-la-Zouch. After school she studied...

Fiona Tierney (Author)

Fiona Tierney, author of the enchanting picture book Lion's Lunch, was born in Dublin and apart from a year in Australia has lived there all her life. Fiona spent many years juggling four children and a busy job before she decided to have a go at...

Di Toft (Author)

Di Toft, author of Wolven, lives in Portishead with her family and their dog called Dave, who is so enormous he can be seen from space on Google Earth. Wolven is her first book for The Chicken House. The sequel, entitled Wolven: The Twilight...

Pat Walsh (Author)

Pat Walsh, author of The Crowfield Curse, was the runner up in our 2008 Times Chicken House Writing Competition. She was born in a haunted house in Kent and spent her early years in West Africa and Ireland, before her family settled in...

Rachel Ward (Author)

Rachel Ward, author of Numbers, grew up in Bookham, Surrey. After school she studied Geography at Durham University and, combined working for a number of local authorities with raising a family. The book she would most like to have written is The...

Philip Webb (Author)

Philip Webb, author of Scavs, had a happy childhood, roaming and exploring and was fascinated by the local rubbish dump where he played out lots of post-apocalyptic adventures with his friends. He was born in 1967 and works as a user experience...

Kate Wild (Author)

Kate Wild, author of Fight Game and Firefight, was born in 1954 and lives in Leicester. Fifteen years after leaving school she decided to go to university and to earn extra money while she was there, she worked part time at a video production...