Kate Agnew

Kate Agnew is the consultant for the Banana series. She manages a children’s bookshop, is the UK consultant extraordinaire for PaperTigers and also writes articles and reviews of children’s books for the Guardian, the Times Educational Supplement, Young Book Trust, the Bookseller, and the Big Guide to Irish children’s books. She is also a reader for the French Gallimard, an editor for the Swiss-American North South, was one of the biggest contributors to the Cambridge Guide to Children’s Literature, and has been a judge for book prizes including the Smarties.

Malorie Blackman

Malorie Blackman has written over 50 books for children - from picture books to best-selling novels like her hard-hitting Noughts and Crosses trilogy. She has won many awards for her writing, including the Smarties Silver Prize. See her website: www.malorieblackman.co.uk

Tony Bradman

Tony Bradman worked in the music press, then became deputy editor of Parents magazine, and soon began reviewing children's books. He started to write his own books for children in 1985 and is probably best known for the popular Dilly the Dinosaur stories. Having sold more than 2 million books worldwide, Tony Bradman has been published in North America, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and several European countries (amongst others).

Martin and Ann Chatterton

Martin and Ann Chatterton are a husband and wife team who have been illustrating and writing and designing children's books for more than a decade and have worked with many of the leading children's authors in the UK. They have written and illustrated over fifteen of their own books as well as illustrating over forty titles for other writers. See their website: www.worldofchatterton.com

Kevin Crossley-Holland

Kevin Crossley-Holland is an English poet, novelist, librettist and reteller of traditional tales. He taught in the Midwest for a number of years, and has four children and a Minnesotan wife. His prize-winning Arthur trilogy, combining legend with the earthy reality of the Middle Ages, and read by children and adults alike, is an international best seller, published in twenty-one languages, while his Banana book, Storm, won the coveted Carnegie Medal. See his website: www.kevincrossley-holland.com

Julia Donaldson

Julia Donaldson has written over forty books and plays for children and teenagers, including the picture book THE GRUFFALO, which won three major British book awards, including the Smarties Prize. See her website: www.juliadonaldson.co.uk

Malachy Doyle

Malachy Doyle writes a variety of picture books, story books and teenage novels. His first teenage novel, Georgie, won the Tir na nOg Award, and his picture book, Cow, won an English Association Award, both in 2002. Malachy now lives in a little seaside town in Wales, with his wife, Liz, and their two cats. See his website: www.malachydoyle.co.uk

Joyce Dunbar

Joyce Dunbar has written more than sixty books for children, including the internationally best-selling TELL ME SOMETHING HAPPY BEFORE I GO TO SLEEP. She is also the author of the much loved MOUSE & MOLE stories, which have been animated for television.

Anne Fine

Anne Fine was the Children’s Laureate from 2001-2003 and is a distinguished writer for children of all ages. She is twice winner of the Carnegie Medal, and has also won the Guardian Children's Literature Award, the Whitbread Children's Novel Award and the Smarties Prize. See her website: www.annefine.co.uk.

Pippa Goodhart

Pippa has written many picture books and stories for young children and has been shortlisted for the Kathleen Fidler Award, the Smarties Prize and the Young Telegraph Book of the Year. See her website: www.pippagoodhart.co.uk

Susan Hellard

Susan started her professional career as an illustrator in 1980 and has been consistently busy ever since. She works mainly illustrating children's books for publishers such as Macmillan, Egmont, Orchard Books, Scholastic, Walker Books, Puffin, Piccadilly Press and more. She won the Piaget award for JUST A MINUTE and has her work in the permanent collection at the V&A. She is the proud owner of four guinea pigs and a cat and spends her spare time in her garden in North London.

Russell Julian

Russell Julian is a graduate from the Anglia Illustration School. He has illustrated four board books, a Banana and several picture books. Horsey, written by Simon Puttock, was called 'a delight' by the Guardian.

Elizabeth Laird

Elizabeth Laird has written over 20 books for children. She has been shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal and the Guardian Book Prize several times. She has won the Children's Book Award and the Smarties Prize. She has lived in many parts of the world, including Ethiopia, Malaysia, Iraq and Lebanon, but now lives in southwest London. See her website: www.elizabethlaird.co.uk

Jan McCafferty

Jan McCafferty has illustrated many picture books and young readers, for various publishers including Egmont, Franklin Watts, OUP and Usborne. She lives in Manchester.

Alison Milford

Alison Milford has written 16 books, including fiction, poems and non-fiction, some for educational purposes, in the past five years. She lives in West Sussex.

Lydia Monks

Lydia Monks is one of the best-loved illustrators today. Her picture book I Wish I Were a Dog, published by Egmont, won the Smarties Bronze Prize, and her picture books since, such as Aaaarrgghh Spider! and No More Eeee-oorh! , have been huge successes, both internationally and in the UK. She has also illustrated texts by Julia Donaldson and she was the official World Book Day illustrator in 2005.

Bel Mooney

Bel Mooney is an author and a journalist, writing for magazines and newspapers. She started to write about Kitty and Mr Tubs when her own daughter Kitty was a naughty four-year-old.

Michael Morpurgo

Former Children's Laureate (2003-2005) Michael Morpurgo needs no introduction. He is one of the most successful children's authors in the country, loved by children, teachers and parents alike. Michael has written more than forty books and won the Whitbread Award, the Smarties Award, the Circle of Gold Award, the Children's Book Award and has been shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal four times. His novels have been adapted for film (My Friend Walter, Why the Whales Came) and stage (including, Kensuke's Kingdom for the Polka Theatre and Why the Whales Came for Alibi and War Horse will run at the National Theatre from October 2007). Michael received an OBE in December 2006 for his services to literature.

With his wife, Clare, Michael set up the charity Farms for City Children in 1978 to enable children from deprived inner-city areas to come and take an active part in running the farm. In 1999, Michael and Clare were awarded an MBE for their charity work.

See his website: www.michaelmorpurgo.org

Linda Newbery

Linda Newbery has written many books for all age ranges. She has been shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal and the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize. See her website: www.lindanewbery.co.uk

Jenny Nimmo

Jenny Nimmo lives in a converted watermill in Wales. Jenny has won the Smarties Prize, been shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal and has been awarded the Tir na n-Og by the Welsh Arts Council. Her hugely popular Charlie Bone series has sold over 500,000 copies in the UK and approaching 3.5 million copies in the US. The sixth title in this series publishes in the UK in June 2007 in hardback, along with the launch of a new interactive website: www.charlie-bone.com

Garry Parsons

Garry Parsons works on magazines, newspapers, advertising, packaging and of course children's books! The first picture book Garry illustrated was nominated for the Red House Children's Book Awards 2004 and for the Stockport Children's Book awards. His first book as author and illustrator came out in June 2006 and is called Krong. Garry lives in South London. See his website: www.garryparsons.co.uk

Korky Paul

Korky Paul grew up scribbling in Zimbabwe and studied Fine Art and Film Animation. He started work in advertising and has since become a well-respected illustrator. Among others, he has illustrated the Winnie The Witch picture books by Valerie Thomas, and anthologies of poems edited by John Foster and Michael Rosen. See his website: www.korkypaul.com

Lynne Rickards

Lynne Rickards has worked as a proofreader in Montreal, a children's book illustrator in Toronto and a writer and editor in Glasgow. She has also written the picture book Pip likes Snow, published by Evans Brothers. Lynne lives in Glasgow with her husband and two children.

Georgie Ripper

Georgie Ripper has illustrated two picture books of her own - The Little Brown Bushrat and My Best Friend Bob - as well as two Bananas. She also illustrates the Rainbow Fairies series.

David Roberts

David Roberts is an extremely popular illustrator, who has illustrated his own texts, such as DIRTY BERTIE, as well as books such as the St Clare's series by Enid Blyton, the Adventures of Eddie Dickens by Philip Ardagh and a picture book by Julia Donaldson - TYRANNOSAURUS DRIP.

Catherine Vase

Catherine Vase has illustrated several books, including Twin Tales by Jacqueline Wilson (Egmont), and the Tiny Princess series (Random House). Her own picture book, The Penguin Who Wanted to Fly (Scholastic) was published in 2005, as were her series of board books Milly and Friends (Scholastic). Catherine lives in London.

Visit her website to find out more: www.catherinevase.com

Melanie Williamson

Melanie Williamson is inspired by quirky characters and bold, vivid colour. She has previously illustrated books for OUP, including two Oxford Reading Tree books by Julia Donaldson, and the picture book Hound Dog by David Bedford. She lives in Stockport.

Jacqueline Wilson

See her website: www.jacquelinewilson.co.uk

Valerie Wilding

Valerie Wilding has been writing for 20 years and has written many books for all age ranges. She is the author of the Toby Tucker series (www.egmont.co.uk/tobytucker) She lives in Alton, Hampshire. See her website: www.valeriewilding.co.uk