Meet the Illustrators
Jon Stuart and his team at Jonatronix Ltd. are just some some of the artists responsible for the stunning illustrations in the Project X series. The 3D artwork alone has been almost 18 months in development and has involved the creation of over 50 characters, hundreds of props, and countless highly detailed environments. Please download the press-release to learn more about this incredible achievement.
Watch a behind-the-scenes video of the making of Project X!
Meet the Authors
Click on the Author's name below to see their mini biography. When you are done, click again to close.
 Tony Bradman
Tony Bradman has been involved with children's books for nearly thirty years, as a reviewer, editor, poet and writer of stories. He has published more than 200 books for children of all ages, and his work has been translated into more than twenty languages and read all over the world, as well as being adapted for television. He is probably best known for the Dilly the Dinosaur books, and one of his stories is currently being adapted into a film by Cartoon Network. Tony has three children and two grandchildren, and lives in London.
Anthony McGowen
Anthony McGowan was born in Manchester in 1965. He went to school in Leeds. He has an M.Phil in philosophy and a PhD on the history of the concept of beauty. He has worked as a nightclub bouncer, civil servant, and Open University tutor in philosophy. He now lives in London. He is married to the fashion designer and novelist Rebecca Campbell. They have two children.
Mick Gowar
Mick is a published author with a very strong pedigree - over 100 books for children published to date, by major publishers including Oxford University Press, Heinemann, Penguin, Walker Books, Watts and Longman. Mick has also been involved in a variety of broadcast media. He frequently tours schools with his workshops, where children (and sometimes adults) are encouraged to bring stories to life. Mick's talents encompass every genre, and he is as comfortable with rhyme as with prose, fiction as with non-fiction. He is able to inject light and humour into any setting, but also weaves magic and intrigue into the dark worlds of traditional tales, myths and legends. Mick writes in a shed in Cambridge, where he can play Wagner as loud as he likes. Shoo Rayner
Shoo Rayner enjoys writing books for boys. He has written and illustrated over a hundred of his own children's books, including Ricky Rocket, Viking Vik, Scaredy Cats and Little Horrors.When Shoo isn't writing in his shed in the Royal Forest of Dean or watching his cats chase frogs around the pond, he visits schools and libraries, entertaining children with his storytelling skills. Shoo has a long association with OUP. His very first books were published as part of the Oxford Reading Tree. Chris Powling
Chris Powling has written more than eighty books for children, including The Phantom Carwash, The Multi-million pound Mascot and Blade, as well as half-a-dozen books for adults on various aspects of children's reading, writing and language. Chris taught at all levels in the state system, from infants to postgraduates, and for ten years was head of a London primary school. He was editor of the magazine Books For Keeps from 1989-1996 when it won the Eleanor Farjeon Award for distinguished service to children's books. He's a regular broadcaster and is currently books editor for the independent radio station Classic FM with weekly reviews of books for readers of all ages. "Working on PROJECT X has been enormous fun," he says. "I hope children enjoy reading it as much as I did writing for it!" Jan Burchett and Sara Vogler
Jan and Sara were already friends when they discovered they both wanted to write children's books and that it was much more fun to do it together. In between the cups of tea and gossip they have managed to produce over eighty stories. As well as working for OUP they have written many other stories for primary school children of different ages and abilities. These are wide-ranging and include stories about ghosts, football, ghosts playing football, a Tudor girl detective, dinosaurs and an old lady who goes back to school at the age of 109! Claire Llewellyn
Claire Llewellyn is a prize-winning author of non-fiction for young readers. In 1991 she was short-listed for the prestigious TES Junior Information Book Award for MacDonald's Take One: Rubbish, and in 1992 she won that award for My First Book of Time. Since then she has written more than 20 children's books on a wide range of subjects. She is the author of Kingfisher's recent Saints and Angels. Claire lives in Hertford.
Haydn Middleton
British author Haydn Middleton has employed his knowledge of his country's history. sports, and mythology to write non-fiction books for children and fantasy novels for older readers. "I suppose that the thread that runs through my books is a fixation with the myths and legends and folklore of the island of Britain," Middleton once commented of his fiction. "What I think I am putting together, book by book, is a 'magic history' of the country, an alternative 'lived' account of the land's story as opposed to the received wisdom encapsulated in textbooks." He was educated at Reading Grammar School then studied Modern History at New College, Oxford. After spells as an advertising executive, teacher and editor at Oxford University Press, he has been a freelance writer for over two decades. He has also lectured on creative writing in the USA and Australia, and on mythical history for Oxford University's Dept for Continuing Education. He lives in Oxford with his son, his daughter, his partner and her four daughters. http://www.christopherlittle.net/TextOnly/OurAuthors/Middleton.aspx Damian Harvey
Damian Harvey has written lots of books for children, nearly 50 the last time he counted, and is a popular visitor to schools and libraries all round the country. He lives near Blackpool with his wife and three daughters, four cats, three Guinea Pigs, two rabbits, one hamster and a tank-full of fish. When he's not busy writing or visiting schools and libraries he enjoys swimming, eating cheese, watching movies and listening to music (though not all at the same time).
You can find out more about Damian from his website www.damianharvey.co.uk John Malam
John Malam has written many books, most of which are information or fact books for children. Many of his books are about history, but he is just as happy writing books about the weather, cars, aircraft, hyenas, dragons, dinosaurs or famous people! In 2008 he became a National Literacy Trust Reading Champion, recognised for his work in engaging reluctant readers, particularly boys. He lives in Winsford, Cheshire.
You can find out more about John from his website www.johnmalam.co.uk |
