Peter Bently (Author) Peter Bently grew up in an army family and went to ten different schools. He studied languages at Oxford and worked as a journalist and non-fiction book editor before becoming a children's author when his own two children were very small. He is the author of more than sixty books, including Cats Ahoy!, illustrated by Jim Field, which won the Roald Dahl Funny Prize, and King Jack and the Dragon, illustrated by Helen Oxenbury, which was an American Library Association Notable Book of the year. Mei Matsuoka (Illustrator) Since graduating from Kingston College of Art in 2004 Mei Matsuoka has been in much demand as an illustrator. Her illustrations for a short story won first prize in a UNESCO sponsored competition, which she travelled to Japan to collect in 2005. Mei was on the final longlist of candidates nominated as Best New Ilustrators, and is one of the UK's most exciting newcomers to children's books.