J.K. Rowling is best known as the author of the seven Harry Potter books, which were published between 1997 and 2007. The enduringly popular adventures of Harry, Ron and Hermione have gone on to sell over 500 million copies, be translated into over 80 languages and made into eight blockbuster films. Alongside the Harry Potter series, she also wrote three short companion volumes for charity: Quidditch Through the Ages and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, in aid of Comic Relief and Lumos, and The Tales of Beedle the Bard, in aid of Lumos. J.K. Rowling collaborated with playwright Jack Thorne and director John Tiffany to continue Harry’s story in a stage play, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, which opened in London in 2016 and is now playing worldwide. In the same year, she made her debut as a screenwriter with the film Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, the first in a series featuring Magizoologist Newt Scamander, which was inspired by the original companion volume. J.K. Rowling has also written a standalone novel, The Casual Vacancy, and is the author of the Strike crime series under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith. Both have been adapted for television. In 2020 J.K. Rowling returned to publishing for younger children with the fairy tale The Ickabog, the royalties from which she is donating to groups affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. She has received many awards and honours, including an OBE and a Companion of Honour for services to literature and philanthropy. She lives in Scotland with her family. Thomas Taylor’s first professional commission after leaving art school was the cover art for a debut novel called Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J.K. Rowling. He then went on to illustrate, and also write, more than a dozen picture books (most notably the Clovis the Tiger books) before venturing into the world of children’s fiction himself. His bestselling middle grade novel Malamander (2019) has been translated into 20 languages, and introduces a five-book series about a mysterious seaside town called Eerie-on-Sea. Thomas currently lives on the south coast of England.