The First Year

Former primary school teacher Matt Goodfellow is a full-time author and poet who visits schools across the country to give high-energy performances and workshops. His first poetry collection for Otter-Barry Books, Chicken on the Roof, received wide acclaim. He is also the author of Caterpillar Cake, illustrated by Krina Patel-Sage and shortlisted for the CLiPPA award, Shu-Lin's Grandpa, illustrated by Yu Rong and shortlisted for the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal, and a contributor to CLiPPA-shortlisted poetry collection Being Me: Poems about Thoughts, Worries and Feelings, all published by Otter-Barry Books. He has written two poetry collections for older readers: Let's Chase Stars Together, shortlisted for the CLiPPA award 2023, and Tomorrow We Begin, published in 2024. Matt lives in Stockport. Joe Todd-Stanton is an author/illustrator who grew up in Brighton and studied at UWE Bristol, receiving a first class degree in Illustration. His picture book The Secret of Black Rock was longlisted for the CILIP Kate Greenaway Award and won the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize. DreamWorks Animation have optioned the motion picture rights to his Brownstone’s Mythical Collection series. In 2023 he won the Yoto Carnegie Shadowers' Choice Medal for Illustration for The Comet. He has twice been shortlisted for the Oscar’s Book Prize. His latest book is Luna and the Treasure of Tlaloc, published in 2024. Joe lives in London.