Smriti Halls is an award-winning, critically acclaimed children's author. Since publication of her first picture book in 2012, she has had a U.S. number 1 bestseller and been published in more than 30 languages, from Arabic to Afrikaans and from Catalan to Korean. Allison was born in Bangor, Northern Ireland and studied art at Manchester Metropolitan University, Liverpool John Moores University and Goldsmiths College, London. She did a lot of formal schooling and learned a great deal during that time, but I believe her path to a career in picture books began with her love of comics and cartoons, particularly Peanuts, the creation of her hero, the great Charles M. Schulz. Before becoming a full-time illustrator and writer, she held many other jobs, including teaching English, working in a bookshop and designing Christmas and Halloween retail outlets for Asda.