King Jack and the Dragon

Growing up in Ipswich, England, Helen Oxenbury loved nothing more than drawing. As a teenager, she entered art school and basked in the pleasure of drawing, and nothing but drawing, all day. During vacations she helped out at the Ipswich Repertory Theatre workshop, mixing paints for set designers. It was there that she decided her future lay in theatre design. While studying costume design, however, Helen was told by a teacher, "This is hopeless, you know. You ought to go and do illustrations - you're much more interested in the character, and we don't know who's going to play the part!"

Peter Bently lives in the writer-filled town of Totnes with his wife and a perfect ready-made audience of two young children. He enjoys visiting schools and sharing his writing. Inspired by living close to the sea, Peter's first book for Macmillan was the terrifically toothy The Shark in the Dark. Staying with the watery theme, Peter has employed his trademark humour and mastery of rhyme once again to the fun-filled Cats Ahoy!