Grace Nichols was born in Guyana and came to Britain in 1977. She has written many books for both children and adults and reads her work widely across England and internationally. Her awards include the Commonwealth Poetry Prize and the Guyana Poetry Prize as well as a Chomondeley Award. Her book Paint Me A Poem was named the Children’s Poetry Bookshelf Best Single Author’s Collection. Her children’s collections include The Poet Cat and Everybody Got a Gift. She has also edited anthologies for younger readers. She was poet-in-residence at The Tate Gallery, London 1999-2000. Grace Nichols lives in Sussex with her husband, the poet John Agard. She has two daughters. David Dean is an award-winning illustrator specialising in children's illustration and book covers, and lives in Cheshire with his two cats and hundreds of books.