Wendy Cooling (Author, External Editor)
Wendy Cooling taught English in London secondary schools for many years before moving to BookTrust, a charity that supports reading to children and adults. There she created the Bookstart project giving books to babies to encourage parents and carers to share books from the very beginning. Wendy has edited many short story and poetry anthologies for children and continues to travel the world talking about children's books and reading. She was honoured to receive an MBE from the Queen and an Eleanor Farjeon Award for services to children's literature. Wendy lives in London and she still loves reading!

Wendy Cooling (1941-2020) taught English in London secondary schools for many years before moving to BookTrust, a charity that supports reading to children and adults. There she founded Bookstart, their flagship national programme that gives books to babies and toddlers to encourage parents and carers to foster a lifelong a love of reading. Wendy edited many short story and poetry anthologies for children and travelled the world talking about children's books and the importance of reading. In 2006 she won the Eleanor Farjeon Award for her outstanding contribution to children's literature, and was honoured to receive an MBE from the Queen in 2009. Wendy died in June 2020, aged 78.