One night, Neville Brisket wakes up from a strange dream - a dream that there is a horrible, stumpy finger stuck up his nose. Then he finds his room in a mess, and his dog in the laundry basket. Neville's investigations end sposhily, when he is whooshed down the toilet to the land of Under! In a case of mistaken troll-dentity, he finds himself part of a disgusting new family. Will anybody help Neville get back to Over, or will he be stuck eating rat patties and left sock stew forever? This hilariously delivered tale will delight and disgust parents and children alike.

Steven Butler is a writer, actor, dancer and trained circus performer as well as a keen observer of trolls and their disgusting habits! Having trained at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts and The Toronto Circus School (in Aerial Ropes), he has starred in Peter Pan, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and as Henry in Horrid Henry Live and Horrid! His future as a writer was almost guaranteed when his primary school headmaster turned out to be the fantastically funny author Jeremy Strong! The Wrong Pong is Steven’s debut novel and before writing this he lived at sea for two years onboard the Disney Cruiseliner.

Chris was born in Colchester in 1958 and has a degree in Fine Art at Newcastle upon Tyne Polytechnic and fell into Illustration by accident. It was by pure chance that he met an illustrator who suggested he join the Association of Illustrators. It was suggested that his style of drawing at the time would suit children's books and through one of the illustrators, (Alan Snow), a meeting was arranged with Ian Butterworth who was then Art Director at Harper/Collins. Other offers began to come in and gradually he had enough work to become a self employed Children's Book Illustrator. He has Illustrated over 80 Books and been shortlisted for several awards for the books he has been involved with. He soon hopes to start writing his own texts, which he feels is long overdue.

Banksy is dedicated to his ambition to become mega-rich through his various money-making schemes. His business partners - and next-door neighbours - are the Baxter Brothers. Billy has boundless confidence and enthusiasm, and Sam is six going on sixty. And then there's Dingdong, their cousin, who is reluctantly allowed to join in, especially if she can help them out of a tight fix...

Two stories in one! THE GERBIL FACTORY When Sam tells Banksy and Billy the cost of a gerbil the boys quickly calculate the wonderful profits they could make if they went into the gerbil breeding business. The only trouble is it takes one of each sex to procreate and so far they only have two unwilling males...THE HAPPY HAIR SALOON Dingdong's grandma is visiting, which always means one thing - going for a haircut. But it also means she has a ten pound note. Ten pounds!! For a share of that Banksy, Billy and Sam will do the job and no one will be any the wiser. Unbelievably, the results are not bad. And so, over half term their shed is rapidly converted to The Happy Hair Saloon...

Rose Impey is known and loved for her series such as Titchy-Witch and Animal Crackers. Her latest story is about three friends and their get-rich-quick schemes. Have you ever calculated how much you would make selling gerbils? And have you thought about the chaos a gerbil factory in your bedroom might cause? Come and find out.

Boys as well as girls will race through these stories giggling all the way!

Joanna, author of Penny Dreadful is a Magnet for Disaster, is small, funny, clever, sneaky and musical. She writes for children, teenagers and young adults about extraordinary things happening to very ordinary people, in very ordinary places. Joanna has lived many other lives: as a lifeguard, a radio newsreader, a producer on a TV cookery show, a journalist, and a special adviser to the Prime Minister. And she still has other guises: as a government speechwriter, and (in her head at least) as a future ice dance champion. Her perfect day would involve baking, surfing, sitting in cafes in Paris and playing with her daughter- who reminds her a lot of Penny Dreadful…

Jess loves creating funny characters with bright colours and fancy patterns to make people smile. Her favorite place is her tiny home, where she lives with her tiny dog and spends lots of time drawing, scanning, scribbling, painting, stamping and sometimes venturing to even use her computer! She loves to rummage through a good car boot sale or a charity shop to find weird and wonderful things. A perfect day for her would have to involve a sunny beach and large amounts of curry and ice cream. Jess has been an illustrator since 2002 and has worked in educational publishing for many years.

When Alfonso the cat hears there's a boat coming into harbour carrying its largest ever catch, he hatches a plan. It's brave! It's bold! And it involves a ghost pirate ship, some rather gullible fishermen, and cats LOTS of cats. With an infectious rhyming text and laugh-out-loud illustrations, this book is set to become a firm favourite for fans of life on the high seas.

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!

Jim Field is a lead-driven, pencil-pushing, 25-frames-per-second, Led Zeppelin fan. He is also a hugely talented illustrator and animation director whose previous clients have included Waterstones, Sainsbury's, Oxfam, The Independent, The Guardian, The FT, Channel 4, Virgin Mobile, Nokia, GQ, Haymarket and BAC. Cats Ahoy! will be Jim's first picture book, and his vibrant, energetic style and witty detail is sure to delight children and adults alike.

Read an interview with Jim Field and Peter Bently about winning the Roald Dahl Funny Prize for Cats Ahoy!

View Jim's gallery of illustrations

Starting school is full of fun in this laugh-out-loud sequel to The Cow That Laid and Egg and The Best Cow in Show. Marjorie the cow feels jolly proud when her daughter, Daisy, starts school. But lessons aren't as easy as they seem! Daisy can't hoof paint or swat flies like the other cows, and cowpat training is a disaster! Yet, Marjorie soon discovers that Daisy has a surprising talent to make her stand out from the herd!

Andy Cutbill is the author of The Cow That Laid an Egg, illustrated by Russell Ayto. Andy also created and developed Albie, the award-winning British animated television show for children. Prior to his successful show, he spent several years writing television commercials. He still spends his time writing for grown-up companies but occasionally escapes to write children's books. He lives in Devon, England, with his wife, son, daughter, and dog.

Russell Ayto was born in Chichester, Sussex and bought up in Oxfordshire. At school he loved both drawing and sciences and once thought about becoming a zoologist. He has worked in a medical laboratory and as as postman, but his favourite job is being an artist! The thing he loves best is the chance to be creative and use his imagination to make characters come to life. He has illustrated many picture books and been shortlisted for the Nestle Award, the Mother Goose Award and the Blue Peter Book Awards, and won the 2008 inaugural Roald Dahl Funny Prize for The Witch's Children go to School.

Limelight Larry is delighted when he finds an empty book - he can be the star of the story! Then a whole host of storybook characters arrive and Larry - much to his outrage - is pushed out of the limelight ...

This book is illustrated with style and sparkle by Leigh. There's even an amazing super-super-shiny foil page that shows Larry off at his very best. A picture book treat that will delight readers time and time again with its cast of funny, friendly characters.

Leigh graduated from the University of Hull in 1998 with a first in graphic design. She went on to study Animation Direction at the National Film and Television School where she made two short animated films, 'Excess Baggage' and 'Novelty'. 'Novelty' toured the world at festivals bringing home numerous prizes and awards including the 2002 British Animation Award for Best Creative Use of New Media.
Leigh has since made four animated films.The third, 'Moon(n)', was selected for The Sundance Film Festival 2004 and the most recent, 'Stalk', was screened at the 2005 London Film Festival and at the Winterthur Short Film Festival 2005 where it picked up the award for outstanding directorial achievement.

Leigh worked at Tiger Aspect as art director for the 26 episode animated series called 'Charlie and Lola', based on the books by Lauren Child. She is absolutely passionate about writing, making things and daydreaming. Her debut picture books, Colin And The Snoozebox and Colin And The Wrong Shadow are published by Orchard Books and the third, Smile!, featuring a new character, Sunny McCloud was published in Spring 2009. Limelight Larry was published in 2010.

Leigh lives and works in London and is married with a baby daughter.

What if a monster were looking for a bedtime snack? And what if that snack just happened to be you? Gulp! He's getting closer and closer ... and his tummy is rumbling really loudly. But all this monster actually wants is a lovely monster-sized goodnight kiss. Night, night!

Ed Vere studied fine art at Camberwell College of Art and has been writing and illustrating children's books since 1999. He is published in both England and the US. Ed is also a painter, working from his studio in East London and is represented by galleries in London and Los Angeles. After a year and a half living in Barcelona, Ed now lives and works in London.