Kenneth Grahame was born in 1859 in Edinburgh, Scotland. The adventures of Ratty, Mole, Badger, Toad and friends were created by Grahame for his nightly bedtime stories with his son, Alistair. These adventures were published in 1908 as The Wind in the Willows and have since captured the imaginations of generations of children. Grahame Baker-Smith is a self-taught illustrator from Oxford who completed his training at Berkshire School of An.
He has worked in illustration for twenty years and in 2011 won the Kate Greenaway Medal for his inspiring tale of fatherhood, FArTHER. He has illustrated three other picture books for Templar : the Greenaway shortlisted Leon and the Place Between, The Winter's Child and the award-winning The Rhythm of the Rain.