The Ogre of Oglefort Award-winning team by Eva Ibbotson (author) and Alex T. Smith (illustrator)

Eva Ibbotson is the award-winning author of many books for children and adults. She has a daughter and three sons, who showed her that children like to read about ghosts, wizards, and witches “because they are just like people but madder and more interesting.”

She was born in Vienna, in Austria, but moved to England with her family when the Nazis came to power. After training to be a physiologist which she didn’t enjoy because she didn’t like doing experiments on animals, Eva got married and had four very nice children.

Her first children’s book, The Great Ghost Rescue was published in 1975, and she is best known for titles like Journey to the River Sea and The Dragonfly Pool. Eva died in 2010, aged 85.

Alex T. Smith was born in 1985 and has drawn and written stories since he could hold a pencil.

After considering several career options (space traveler, cake maker, professional rabbit), Alex decided to train to do the job he’d wanted to do since he was five – a children’s books illustrator.

Alex graduated with a 1st Class Hons degree in Illustration and, having won second place in the Macmillan Prize for Children’s Picture Book Illustration in his final year, began working on his first commission as he put his degree show up!

Since then Alex has gone on to write and illustrate his own books – many of which have won prizes and have been read on TV during the Bedtime Hour on CBeebies, as well as illustrating books for several different authors.

Alex is also the creator of the CLAUDE series for early readers. CLAUDE in the City was selected for the Richard and Judy Children’s Book Club 2011 and was shortlisted for the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize in 2012.

When not working, Alex enjoys doodling in his sketchbook, reading, people-watching and eavesdropping. He is also a big fan of cake and a nice cup of tea and a sit down.

He lives with and under the constant ‘supervision’ of his canine companions – two very tiny, very naughty chihuahuas (Coco and Mr. Bongo) and an ancient and very bossy Yorkshire Terrier, Lucy Locket.