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, the Kate Greenaway Medal, the Emil/Kurt Maschler Award and the international Bologna Ragazzi Prize, in 2002 he won the 2002 Hans Christian Andersen Award for Illustration, the highest international recognition given to creators of children's books. In 2004 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 and Ben Manley (The Misadventures of Frederick; Constance in Peril).