Reading Champion: Red Reading Band 2

Katie Dale had her first poem 'The Fate of The School Hamster' published in The Cadbury's Book of Children's Poetry, aged 8 and hasn't stopped writing since. On graduating, she went travelling through South-East Asia - only to discover whilst in a Vietnam internet cafe that she was a winner of the SCBWI 2008 Undiscovered Voices competition.

Katie Woolley is a creative and versatile editor and writer who has worked on children's books for all age levels, from board books, novelty books and picture books to non fiction, licensed publishing and educational books and apps. Katie has more than 10 years' publishing experience; she has written, commissioned, edited and project managed a variety of titles for some of the biggest children's publishers, such as Ladybird Books and Hachette Children's Books.

Jillian Powell has an MA in English from Cambridge University and an M.Phil in Art History from the Courtauld Institute, London. She is an experienced writer of children's fiction and non-fiction, and has written on many social issues.

Jenny Jinks comes from a family of writers - her sister, Katie Dale and her mum, Elizabeth Dale, have penned many children's books between them and now Jenny has joined them!

Sue Graves has been a freelance children's author for more than 17 years. She has written over two hundred books for children from pre-school up to 15+ years. She writes fiction and non-fiction, plays and poetry across the age ranges. Sue loves reading all sorts of books and is at her happiest when she has a book in her hand. She also loves painting in watercolours, playing tennis and badminton and going for long walks in the country with her husband and children.

Jackie Walter has written and edited many books for children. She never gets tired of listening to and telling a good story. Jackie lives in Cornwall with her husband and young daughters.

A.H. Benjamin is an established children's author with 30 titles to his credit. His books have sold worldwide with more than 20 translations, including Chinese, Korean, Turkish and Arabic. Some of his work has been adapted for radio, television and theatre. He's married with four grown up children and four young grandchildren who have all been his inspiration for writing. He lives in Lincolnshire with wife, Trisha. His hobbies are reading, writing, walking and playing the playstation 2 (but only football!). When he was a little boy he dreamt of being a cowboy... He still does!

Elizabeth Dale always dreamed of being a writer but somehow got side-tracked into studying for a physics degree, followed by health service management. When her children were born she finally returned to her dream, writing thousands of short stories for magazines all over the world. Re-discovering a love of children's books while reading to her daughters, she decided to turn her hand to writing them - and has now published over twenty books for children, including picture books and junior fiction. Writing is her full-time job, but also her favourite activity. She also enjoys reading, gardening, walking, and being in the country. Her favourite children's books include Walk Two Moons, The Selfish Giant, Cosmic, and Someone Else's Life. She loves watching cosy sentimental films, such as You've Got Mail, Return to Me, and While You Were Sleeping, as well as classic old films starring Cary Grant, Fred Astaire and Doris Day. Elizabeth is married, with three daughters, and lives in a village in West Sussex. Her daughters, Katie and Jenny, are also children's authors with Hachette.

Sarah Snashall is an experienced professional writer, and has written many books on a wide range of topics.

A native of New England, Jeff Harding has appeared in television productions as varied as HOWARD'S END, THE FAST SHOW, FATHER TED and NCS MANHUNT. He has recorded many audiobooks, including Orion's THE LAST TEMPLAR, ROBERT LUDLUM'S BOURNE TROLOGY and the best-selling Dan Brown's THE DA VINCI CODE.