Pretty Polly

Dick King-Smith (1922-2011) served in the Grenadier Guards during the Second World War, and afterwards spent twenty years as a farmer in Gloucestershire, the county of his birth. Many of his stories are inspired by his farming experiences. Later he taught at a village primary school. His first book, The Fox Busters, was published in 1978. He went onto write a great many more children's books, including The Sheep-Pig (winner of the Guardian Award and filmed as Babe), Harry's Mad, Noah's Brother, The Hodgeheg, Martin's Mice, Ace, The Cuckoo Child and Harriet's Hare (winner of the Children's Book Award in 1995). At the British Book Awards in 1991 he was voted Children's Author of the Year. In 2009 he was made OBE for services to children's literature. Dick King-Smith died in 2011 at the age of eighty-eight.

Jane Asher is well-known in the UK for her acting, business ventures and writing. She has been working professionally in film, theatre and radio since she was five years old – her first appearance was in the film Mandy. She is a successful writer, having written three bestselling novels. Jane has also developed the Jane Asher range of cake mixes, which has become a bestselling brand.