Mark Sperring (Author) Mark Sperring was born in 1963 in Swindon but grew up in Weston-Super-Mare. Mark Sperring is the author of several highly-acclaimed picture books and successful series including the Sunflower Sword and Captain Buckleboots on the Naughty Step . He now lives in Bristol where he also works as a bookseller. Deborah Allwright (Illustrator) Deborah Allwright is a best-selling illustrator of numerous popular picture books. After studying art and design in London she stepped straight into a busy life of advertising work, package design, editorial and card design before being approached to develop a picture book with the publisher Templar. She has to date illustrated over 50 books for many celebrated authors which amount to co-editions in over 25 languages.