Bone And Dream : A St. Boan Mystery

Joan Delano Aiken (1924-2004) was the daughter of the American poet, Conrad Aiken. Joan had a variety of jobs, including working for the BBC, the United Nations Information Centre and then as features editor for a short story magazine. Her first children's novel, The Kingdom and the Cave, was published in 1960. Joan Aiken wrote over a hundred books for young readers and adults and is recognized as one of the classic authors of the twentieth century. Her best-known books are those in the James III saga, of which The Wolves of Willoughby Chase was the first title, published in l962 and awarded the Lewis Carroll prize. Both that and Black Hearts in Battersea have been filmed. Her books are internationally acclaimed and she received the Edgar Allan Poe Award in the United States as well as the Guardian Award for Fiction in this country for The Whispering Mountain. In 1999 Joan Aiken was awarded an MBE for her services to children's books.

Julia Donaldson was born in 1948. She grew up in London and studied at Bristol University. She worked for a few years in publishing and as a teacher, while also writing and performing songs and street theatre with her husband Malcolm, and writing and directing two musicals for children. She has written over a hundred books and plays for children and teenagers, including the award-winning stories The Gruffalo, Room on the Broom and Superworm, which are among the UK's best-selling picture books. Julia has won many awards, including the Smarties and Blue Peter Awards and was the children's laureate 2011-2013. Julia Donaldson lives in Sussex with her husband, Malcolm, who often joins her on stage for their sell-out singalong shows.