PHILIPPA PEARCE was the daughter of a miller and grew up in a mill-house near Cambridge. The house, the river and the village feature in many of her best-loved children’s books. She was educated at the Perse Girls’ School in Cambridge and then at Girton College, Cambridge, where she read English and history. In addition to writing books, she worked as a scriptwriter-producer for BBC radio, as a children’s book editor, a book reviewer, lecturer, storyteller and as a freelance writer for radio and newspapers. Philippa Pearce’s much-loved books for children include Carnegie Medal winner Tom’s Midnight Garden, A Dog So Small, The Battle of Bubble and Squeak, which won the Whitbread Award, and The Little Gentleman. Philippa Pearce died in 2006.