The Great Piratical Rumbustification

Margaret Mahy's many books - picture books, short stories, and fiction for teenagers as well as younger children - have been hugely successful all round the world and she is indisputably one of the most popular and successful twentieth-century children's authors. She has won the CARNEGIE MEDAL and many other awards, and has been nominated for the HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN AWARD. She lives in New Zealand.

Quentin Blake was the first ever Children's Laureate and is recognised, according to The Guardian, as 'a national institution'. He is best known for his collaboration with Roald Dahl, but has also illustrated many other children's books, and has created much-loved characters of his own, including Mister Magnolia and Mrs Armitage.