Hilary McKay won the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize with her first novel, The Exiles. Her subsequent work has achieved recognition: The Exiles at Home won the Smarties Prize, whilst Saffy's Angel, the first in the Casson Family series, won the Whitbread Award, for which the third book, Permanent Rose, was also shortlisted.
Alex Ayliffe grew up in Hertfordshire. She loved drawing, painting and sport as a child and went on to art school. Having lived in London and Australia she is now back in Hertfordshire.
Previous books include Mr McGregor's Breakfast Egg, Oh No Anna, Let's Be Friends and Let's get a Puppy.