SYBIL MARSHALL (1913 - 2005) was a writer and educator. Her texts on educational theory pioneered progressive teaching methods and influenced several generations of educators. She also served as an Education Adviser to Granada Television, where she oversaw the celebrated program Picture Box, which reached more than 300 million schoolchildren over 23 years. In addition to her books on education, she wrote her fictionalized autobiography as a trilogy of novels, published by Penguin. She won the Angel Prize for Literature for Everyman’s Book of English Folk Tales.

JOHN LAWRENCE is the eminent English illustrator and wood engraver. He has twice won the Francis Williams Award for illustration (sponsored by the Victoria and Albert Museum, London) and twice been runner-up for the Kurt Emil-Maschler Award. He lives in Cambridge.