The Hatmakers

Tamzin Merchant has been an actor since the age of seventeen. Her acting work has taken her around the world and on a journey through time. She has been a Tudor, a Victorian, a Jacobean, and has survived the Blitz and succumbed to pneumonia in Edwardian times. She’s been an alien, a witch, a doomed queen, a feisty Scottish warrior and a rebellious high-society runaway. Tamzin is the bestselling author of The Hatmakers, The Mapmakers and The Troublemakers.

Paola Escobar is a a graphic designer and illustrator from Colombia. As a child she loved drawing the stories told by her grandmother about their family and culture and it was her dream to become an illustrator for children’s books. She is the illustrator of the award-winning picture book Planting Stories: The Life of Librarian and Storyteller Pura Belpré as well as many other critically-acclaimed picture books. She has worked with publishers across the world and is proud to have illustrated stories that celebrate cultural diversity and champion unsung heroes. Paola lives very happily in Bogotá, Colombia, with her husband and their dog, Flora.