Born in 1944 in Lancashire, British poet and children's author Ann Pilling read English at King’s College, London, where she wrote her thesis on C.S. Lewis' fiction. She has published over thirty books for children, one of which - Henry's Leg - won The Guardian Prize for Children’s Fiction. She has two sons, six grandchildren, and currently lives in the Yorkshire Dales. Since 2003, she has concentrated on writing poetry, rather than fiction.