Jane Ray was born and raised in London, where she still lives. She has been illustrating and writing children's books for 25 years and has a special interest in folk and fairy tales. She enjoys writing her own stories (Can You Catch a Mermaid? and The Dolls House Fairy, both published by Orchard Books) and illustrating stories by other people, including The Lost Happy Endings by Carol Ann Duffy (Bloomsbury UK) and The King of Capri by Jeanette Winterson (Bloomsbury USA). For Boxer Books, Jane created an extraordinary quartet of story collections, all retold and illustrated by her. Jane also frequently works in primary schools, encouraging children to create their own books and pictures. She is married to the conductor David Temple and has three children. Jane has won numerous awards including the most prestigious Kate Greenaway award.