Lou Kuenzler studied drama at the University of Ulster in Northern Ireland and went on to become a theatre director and also to teach drama and run schools workshops in London. She has only recently taken up writing for children and is the author of The Ugly Egg (Kingfisher) and The Runaway Bannock (White Wolves); this is her first story for Walker. She lives in London with her husband, a music journalist, and their two children. Nick Maland has illustrated numerous picture books, including Snip, Snap by Mara Bergman and Big Blue Whale by Nicola Davies, and he was the overall winner at the V&A Illustration Awards 2003 for You've Got Dragons by Kathryn Cave. For young readers he has also illustrated Glog by Pippa Goodhart, another Walker Story, and the Goffins series by Jeanne Willis. Nick lives in north London with his wife and two children.