Nicola Davies is a zoologist and writer who graduated from Cambridge with a degree in zoology before going on to work in television. She is the author of non-fiction books Poo, Big Blue Whale, Surprising Sharks and Ice Bear, as well as the novel Home, and Gaia Warriors - a book about climate change written in collaboration with scientist James Lovelock. Her latest books for Walker include the Silver Street Farm fiction series, about three children who set up a city farm, and the Animal Surprises books. Marc Boutavant is new to the Walker list. He is an illustrator and artist who has illustrated childrens' books for Albin Michel, Actes Sud Junior, Nathan, Seuil Jeunesse and Mila. In 2002, he created his own animal series called "Mouk" at Editions Milan, published in the UK by Random House. His other work has been for the Guardian and the New York Times. He lives in Paris