Patricia MacCarthy is a children's book and greetings card illustrator. She lives by the sea and downlands in Sussex with her husband John Avon, who is a fantasy artist, and her two young sons, Laurie and James. Patricia graduated from Brighton Art College in 1980 with a BA in Graphic Design and since then she has created many children's books and hundreds of cards. She uses a remarkably wide range of materials for her artwork from batik on silk, watercolours and acrylics to collage as well as other mediums. Patricia has collaborated with New Zealand author Margaret Mahy on five picture books, one of which, 17 Kings and 42 Elephants won the New York Times Best Illustrated Book of the Year. The Dewdrop Fairies series are Patricia's first books with RHCB.