Barry Ablett Originally from Northamptonshire, Barry studied Illustration at Loughborough College of Art. After graduating he moved to London and began illustrating for book jackets, greetings cards and magazines.
Barry's work soon found a home in children's book illustration
where his pictures have appeared in books in the UK and abroad.
He continues to draw inspiration from the detail and charm
of the illustrations of Janet Ahlberg and Lisbeth Zwerger.
He lives on the Dorset coast. Dear Polar Bear... is Barry's
first picture book for Fernleigh.
Zdenko Basic Zdenko was born in 1980 in Zagreb, Croatia. In 2005 he graduated from the Zagreb Academy of Fine Arts, receiving an award for Best Graduating Student.
Zdenko has illustrated many children's books, and articles for children's magazines. His work has been displayed at the Zagreb carnival, and since 2004 he has been working with the Merlin Theatre as a costume/scenic and graphic designer.
In 2006, he won the Sheep in a Box Award for best Croatian
picture-book for his work on
'The Story of Chocolate', which also won the Kiklop Award for
best book-design.
Petra Brown
Petra Brown was born in Luton, and has spent her career proving her school careers teacher wrong by becoming a successful illustrator!
Petra has created beautiful designs, puppets, prints, cards and illustrations for the past twenty years. Petra's work has a natural home in children's book illustration, and she has illustrated books for a range of publishers in the UK and abroad, with her work being shortlisted for The Book Trust Early Years Awards for Best Emerging Illustrator.
‘Ssh! Don't Wake the Baby!’ is Petra's first picture book for Fernleigh Books.
Mike Brownlow Born in Liverpool, Mike has written and illustrated many children’s books as well as working extensively in most areas of illustration. He has worked for a wide range of publishers, including Ragged Bears, Time/Warner, OUP, Fernleigh and most recently Bloomsbury. His book ‘Little Robots’ has been made into a stop-motion animated series, with 65 episodes having been made so far. Shown on the BBC in Britain and Cartoon Network in the USA, Little Robots can be seen on TV all over the world. He lives in Somerset with his wife and daughters.
Dan Crisp I
studied Illustration in Sheffield and at The North East Wales
Institute.
I illustrated for advertising, editorial
and packaging for 10 years where I produced many humorous
ranges of best-selling greetings cards and dabbled in textile
design. My photorealistic work has been commissioned by the
Radio Times.
Since then I have illustrated many children's books and have
written and illustrated the Where's that...? Series for Campbell
Books, and a range of greetings cards called Crisp and Dry.
Recently, I have been involved in creating a children's TV
production company, and working on Little Fingers Movers
and Tyrannosaurus Reg with Fernleigh Books.
I now live in Todmorden, West Yorkshire, with Isabel and
our two children, Tom who is 4, and Tilda who is 2.
Piers Harper
Piers Harper has been illustrating children's picture and puzzle books for over 10 years. He lives in Cumbria, with a view of rolling hills from his studio window. He loves the mountains and eating chocolate.
Jason Hook Jason Hook has written over twenty books for children, ranging from a boxed set of poems and a robot adventure book, to biographies of Roald Dahl and Muhammad Ali. He continues to write fiction for both children and adults, and was runner-up in the BBC's End of Story writing competition. He lives by the seaside in Brighton, where he occasionally watches dragons fly over the ruins of the West Pier. Jason studied literature at Kent University before becoming an editor of children's history books, and is now the publisher at the Ivy Press.
Richard Hook Richard
Hook was born in 1938 in Godstone, Surrey. He trained at
Reigate School of Art. After National Service with the Queen's
Royal Regiment he worked in advertising, before becoming
art editor of the much-praised children's magazine Finding
Out during the 1960s. In 1966 he became a freelance illustrator,
earning an international reputation and specializing in military
and historical subjects. His work was selected for the Bologna
Non-fiction Exhibition in 1995.
He is married with three children, all working in publishing
– Adam and Christa as illustrators and Jason as publisher –
and three grandchildren. His interests are playing guitar,
painting and studying the costume and history of the North
American Indians.
Lorna Hussey Lorna
grew up in Macclesfield and attended the Northwich School
of Art and Design for her Foundation Course. She then went
on to gain a B.A. Honours Degree at Manchester Polytechnic,
in Illustration, where Tony Ross was her tutor. On leaving
college she worked freelance in advertising and greeting
cards. Lorna then moved on to illustrating children's books,
teaming up with well-known literary agent Eunice McMullen.
Lorna is married to Andy and lives in Llansantffraid, Powys,
on the Welsh Borders. They have three children, Joe, 11,
Matti, 10 and Abi, 8. Matti is autistic and has special needs,
therefore Lorna needs to work from home. It has been a natural
progression to illustrate books in her own right, as this
allows her the time to balance work and family life as best
she can. Lorna has a passion for animals and this can be
seen in her artwork. The family has 2 horses, 2 dogs and
6 chickens. She has an Irish sports horse called 'Basil',
on whom she competes at dressage.
Ayano
Imai Ayano
was born in London, England, in 1980. When she was young,
Ayano travelled around the world with her family. From
1986 to 1990, she lived in Japan, then relocated to the
United States, splitting time between Connecticut and Los
Angeles.
After returning to Japan in 1994, Ayano studied Japanese painting
at Musashino Art University in Tokyo. Whilst there, she developed
an interest in illustration.
From 2003-2006, Ayano participated in the illustration exhibition
at the Bologna Book Fair. The 108th Sheep is the first children's
book Ayano has illustrated and written. Ayano now lives in
Chiba, Japan.
Russell Julian Russell
was born and raised Derbyshire. He studied General Art and
Design at West Notts College in Mansfield. Then he studied
Illustration at APU, Cambridge.
Russell’s work was first published
by Egmont in 2004, and since then he has been published
by OUP, Lion Hudson, Lerner Books and Fernleigh Books.
Russell
lives in North West London with his girlfriend and daughter.
He enjoys
watching tv, gardening, cooking (and eating!), DIY, reading,
walking… and
painting!
Steve Lavis After leaving Art College, Steve established himself quickly as a book cover artist and illustrated the covers for over 200 books. Many of these were for children's classics, including the works of Alan Garner and the Chronicles of Narnia by C S Lewis. The original artwork for these were exhibited in the windows of Harrods. After a brief time working as an illustrator in advertising, Steve returned to children's publishing both writing and illustrating his own picture books, such as the highly successful 'Cock-a-doodle-doo' which is republished this autumn in paperback. He has also enjoyed illustrating picture books with writers such as David Bedford and Shen Roddie. Born in Hampshire, Steve has two grown up sons, and now lives, works and plays in St Ives, Cornwall.
Neil Reed Neil
Reed lives in Cornwall, and has been illustrating books for
more than 20 years. He also does landscape design, paints
landscapes and
sea-scapes, and consequently Neil draws much of
his inspiration from the wild, dramatic landscapes around
him. When not working on books for young readers, he can
be found surfing with his children at the beaches near his
home.
Andy Rowland When I grow up I want to… have a cool haircut, get my cycling proficiency badge, study illustration at M.M.U. graduate in '96, win the MacMillan Book Prize, draw pictures for a living, own a camper van, illustrate fantastic books for Fernleigh… So far so good.
Apart from the haircut!
Originally from Northamptonshire, Barry studied Illustration at Loughborough College of Art. After graduating he moved to London and began illustrating for book jackets, greetings cards and magazines.
Zdenko was born in 1980 in Zagreb, Croatia. In 2005 he graduated from the Zagreb Academy of Fine Arts, receiving an award for Best Graduating Student.
Born in Liverpool, Mike has written and illustrated many children’s books as well as working extensively in most areas of illustration. He has worked for a wide range of publishers, including Ragged Bears, Time/Warner, OUP, Fernleigh and most recently Bloomsbury. His book ‘Little Robots’ has been made into a stop-motion animated series, with 65 episodes having been made so far. Shown on the BBC in Britain and Cartoon Network in the USA, Little Robots can be seen on TV all over the world. He lives in Somerset with his wife and daughters.
I
studied Illustration in Sheffield and at The North East Wales
Institute.
Jason Hook has written over twenty books for children, ranging from a boxed set of poems and a robot adventure book, to biographies of Roald Dahl and Muhammad Ali. He continues to write fiction for both children and adults, and was runner-up in the BBC's End of Story writing competition. He lives by the seaside in Brighton, where he occasionally watches dragons fly over the ruins of the West Pier. Jason studied literature at Kent University before becoming an editor of children's history books, and is now the publisher at the Ivy Press. 
Richard
Hook was born in 1938 in Godstone, Surrey. He trained at
Reigate School of Art. After National Service with the Queen's
Royal Regiment he worked in advertising, before becoming
art editor of the much-praised children's magazine Finding
Out during the 1960s. In 1966 he became a freelance illustrator,
earning an international reputation and specializing in military
and historical subjects. His work was selected for the Bologna
Non-fiction Exhibition in 1995.
Lorna
grew up in Macclesfield and attended the Northwich School
of Art and Design for her Foundation Course. She then went
on to gain a B.A. Honours Degree at Manchester Polytechnic,
in Illustration, where Tony Ross was her tutor. On leaving
college she worked freelance in advertising and greeting
cards. Lorna then moved on to illustrating children's books,
teaming up with well-known literary agent Eunice McMullen.
Lorna is married to Andy and lives in Llansantffraid, Powys,
on the Welsh Borders. They have three children, Joe, 11,
Matti, 10 and Abi, 8. Matti is autistic and has special needs,
therefore Lorna needs to work from home. It has been a natural
progression to illustrate books in her own right, as this
allows her the time to balance work and family life as best
she can. Lorna has a passion for animals and this can be
seen in her artwork. The family has 2 horses, 2 dogs and
6 chickens. She has an Irish sports horse called 'Basil',
on whom she competes at dressage.
Ayano
was born in London, England, in 1980. When she was young,
Ayano travelled around the world with her family. From
1986 to 1990, she lived in Japan, then relocated to the
United States, splitting time between Connecticut and Los
Angeles.
Russell
was born and raised Derbyshire. He studied General Art and
Design at West Notts College in Mansfield. Then he studied
Illustration at APU, Cambridge. 
After leaving Art College, Steve established himself quickly as a book cover artist and illustrated the covers for over 200 books. Many of these were for children's classics, including the works of Alan Garner and the Chronicles of Narnia by C S Lewis. The original artwork for these were exhibited in the windows of Harrods. After a brief time working as an illustrator in advertising, Steve returned to children's publishing both writing and illustrating his own picture books, such as the highly successful 'Cock-a-doodle-doo' which is republished this autumn in paperback. He has also enjoyed illustrating picture books with writers such as David Bedford and Shen Roddie. Born in Hampshire, Steve has two grown up sons, and now lives, works and plays in St Ives, Cornwall.
Neil
Reed lives in Cornwall, and has been illustrating books for
more than 20 years. He also does landscape design, paints
landscapes and
When I grow up I want to… have a cool haircut, get my cycling proficiency badge, study illustration at M.M.U. graduate in '96, win the MacMillan Book Prize, draw pictures for a living, own a camper van, illustrate fantastic books for Fernleigh… So far so good.