Child's Play

Authors

Richard O’Neill was born and brought up in a large traditional Romani family in the North of England. He is an award-winning storyteller and writer who tells his original stories in schools, museums, libraries and theatres throughout the UK. A sixth generation storyteller, he grew up in a vigorous oral storytelling tradition, learning his skills from some of the best Traveling storytellers in England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales. Richard is the author of eleven children’s books, and his stories and plays have been broadcast on BBC Radio. His digital stories have been enjoyed throughout the world, and in 2013, he was the recipient of the National Literacy Hero award.

Katharine Quarmby is a writer, journalist and Royal Literary Fund Fellow at the London School of Economics. She has written both for children and adults. Her first book for children, Fussy Freya was published in 2008; while her first non-fiction book, Scapegoat: Why We Are Failing Disabled People (Portobello Press, 2011), won the prestigious Ability Media International Literature award. Her second non-fiction book, on Gypsies, Roma and Travellers, No Place to Call Home: Inside the Real Lives of Gypsies and Travellers, was published by Oneworld in 2013.

Illustrator

Marieke Nelissen worked as a graphic designer for almost ten years before starting her own business, le petit studio, in 2010. Marieke’s work is defined by her use of color. She focuses on finding emotion in minimalism and expressive power in details.
She works mainly in ink, gouache, watercolor, crayon and pencil. She prefers to work on paper because she likes to get her hands dirty, and
because she loves the unexpected inspiration that may arise from an unintentional stain or smudge.