Winter Sleepwalker And Other Stories, The

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These fairytales are like no others. The Winter Sleepwalker and Other Stories will introduce you to sea kings and witches, princesses and giant pink snakes. From Martian monsters dumped on Earth to football played in space, there’s magic and mystery on every page – both in the spellbinding stories and Quentin Blake’s masterfully atmospheric illustrations. A classic collection: witty, original and endlessly enjoyable…

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Joan Aiken was born in Sussex in 1924. She was the daughter of the American poet, Conrad Aiken; her sister, Jane Aiken Hodge, is also a novelist. Before joining the 'family business' herself, Joan had a variety of jobs, including working for the BBC, the United Nations Information Centre and then as features editor for a short story magazine. Her first children's novel, The Kingdom of the Cave, was published in 1960. Joan Aiken wrote over a hundred books for young readers and adults and is recognized as one of the classic authors of the twentieth century. Amanda Craig, writing in The Times, said, 'She was a consummate story-teller, one that each generation discovers anew.' Her best-known books are those in the James III saga, of which The Wolves of Willoughby Chase was the first title, published in l962 and awarded the Lewis Carroll prize. Both that and Black Hearts in Battersea have been filmed. Her books are internationally acclaimed and she received the Edgar Allan Poe Award in the United States as well as the Guardian Award for Fiction in this country for The Whispering Mountain. Joan Aiken was decorated with an MBE for her services to children's books. She died in 2004. Born in 1932, Quentin Blake has been drawing ever since he can remember and has always made his living as an illustrator. He has also taught, and for ten years was Head of the Illustration department at the Royal College of Art. Quentin Blake’s first picture book was published in 1986, and ever since he has enchanted us with his unique illustration style. He is one of Britain’s best-loved and most successful author-illustrators, and was made the first Children’s Laureate in 1999. He has won the Whitbread Award, the Hans Christian Andersen Award for Illustration and the Kate Greenaway Medal among many others. Quentin Blake is a tireless champion of children’s literature, and was awarded a CBE in 2005.