Jo Lodge is an illustrator and a paper engineer. Jo produced her first six books in 1996 which were published by Rod Campbell. Her boldly coloured animal characters have been used across a range of books. Jo was nominated for the Sainsbury's Baby Book Award in October 2001, was a finalist for the Sheffield Baby Book Award in 2007 and was shortlisted for the Booktrust Early Years awards in 2010. She is probably best known for her Mr Croc books that have sold over a million copies worldwide. She lives in West Sussex with her husband and two sons.