VALERIE BLOOM is the author of poetry collections, picture books and fiction, with her poems included in numerous anthologies. Alongside public and media appearances, Valerie is renowned for her inspiring events in schools throughout the UK and internationally. She was awarded an MBE for services to poetry in 2008, and her solo collection of new poems Stars with Flaming Tails illustrated by Ken Wilson-Max (Otter-Barry Books) won the 2022 CLiPPA, the UK's top award for published poetry for children. Her latest book The River's a Singer illustrated by Sophie Bass (Macmillan Children's, 2024), is a new selection including some of her best-known poems. Read more about Valerie Bloom

ROBERT MUCHAMORE's award-winning debut, CHERUB: The Recruit, was published by Hodder Children's Books in 2004. His novels have since sold well over 17.5 million copies in more than 40 countries, with translations in 24 languages. A CHERUB screen adaptation is currently in development, and the books continue to win recognition for inspiring a love of reading in older children. Following the release of two highly praised YA stand-alone novels in 2018 and 2019, Hot Key Books launched Robert Muchamore's Robin Hood in April 2020, to instant acclaim. The series is set to run to ten books. Read more about Robert Muchamore

MEGAN RIX writes historical and contemporary fiction in which animals often play a key role. She is fluent in British sign language, which she incorporates into her popular school and public events. BSL also features in the Lizzie & Lucky series (Puffin) starring a young Deaf detective and her Dalmatian puppy. Megan Rix's books have won regional awards, and been shortlisted for the Inclusive Books for Children Awards (2024) and the Red House Children's Book Award (2014). Megan also writes under the name Ruth Symes, with many children's books and TV scripts to her credit, including work for Channel 4, The Jim Henson Company, and RTE / Nick Junior. Read more about Megan Rix

SUE HEAP has written and illustrated many books over a career spanning three decades, including the Smarties Prize-winning Cowboy Baby (Walker Books). A series of picture books co-written and co-illustrated with Nick Sharratt (Puffin) was the first of several successful creative collaborations. Sue was the illustrator of the award-winning Very Little Red Riding Hood by Teresa Heapy (David Fickling Books) and the New York Times bestseller and Notable Book How To Be A Baby... By Me, The Big Sister by Sally Lloyd Jones (Schwartz & Wade), which the New York Times Book Review called 'adorable, original, well-illustrated and fabulous.' Read more about Sue Heap

CAROLINE LAWRENCE's historical novels for young readers have sold over a million copies in the UK alone, and her Roman Mysteries (Orion) were dramatised by the BBC. She won the Classical Association Prize in 2009, and an Edgar nomination in the USA in 2014. Caroline is a sought-after speaker, maintaining a busy programme of school and literary festival events. Her middle grade novel The Time Travel Diaries (Piccadilly Press) was The Sunday Times Children's Book of the Week on publication in 2019, and a Books for Keeps magazine Book of the Year. Recent projects include a new retelling of Aesop's Fables illustrated by Robert Ingpen (Welbeck). Read more about Caroline Lawrence

MICHAEL CATCHPOOL is the author of ten children's picture books, with his wise and witty stories brought to life by illustrators including Alison Jay, David Roberts, Vanessa Cabban, Rosalind Beardshaw, Jill Newton and Emma Proctor. SuperJoe Does NOT Do Cuddles was published by Lantana in Autumn 2021, and its sequel SuperJoe Does NOT Say Sorry was a BookTrust pick in November 2022. A former primary school headteacher with a background in English and Drama and a PhD in Education from Cambridge University, Michael has also written sketches and scripts for use in schools. His first young fiction series is set to launch in 2026. Read more about Michael Catchpool

MARY MURPHY is a Dublin-based author-illustrator of over 40 books for young children. She has garnered a string of starred reviews and accolades in the USA, UK and Ireland for her work, which has also been adapted for TV. In Children's Books Ireland's 2018 campaign to mark the centenary of women's suffrage, Mary was one of twenty 'Bold Girls' celebrated for having made 'an exceptional contribution to the canon of Irish children's literature'. The Irish Examiner called her latest picture book 'iconic', and her first novel The Minute Minders (Pushkin Children's, 2024) was Children's Book of the Week in both The Sunday Times and The Week Junior. Read more about Mary Murphy