Quentin Blake is one of the world's foremost illustrators, whose work includes self-penned picture book classics as well as collaborations with other writers, most notably Roald Dahl, with whom his drawings became synonymous. The winner of numerous awards including the Whitbread Award, Kate Greenaway Medal, Emil/Kurt Maschler Award, and the Bologna Ragazzi Prize. In 2002, he won the Hans Christian Andersen Award for Illustration, the highest international recognition given to creators of children's books. Quentin Blake was awarded the Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres by the French Government for services to literature and in 2007 he was made Officier in the same order. In 2014, he was admitted to the Legion d'Honneur, an honour accorded to few people who are not French nationals. In 1999, he was appointed the first ever Children's Laureate, and was appointed Companion of Honour in Queen Elizabeth II's birthday honours list in 2022. Emma Chichester Clark , a student at the Royal College of Art during Quentin Blake's tenure as Head of Illustration, is a celebrated illustrator of extraordinary talent. Her warm and charming picture books feature long-running characters including Blue Kangaroo, Melrose and Croc, and her very own dog, Plum.

She has also collaborated with many writers, including Michael Morpurgo, Ian Whybrow, and Ben Manley on The Misadventures of Frederick and Constance in Peril for Macmillan Children's Books.