Julia Patton is an illustrator, author, and designer, who has also run a freelance greeting card business since 1994 and has periodically taught in BA and MA programs at various universities. She has illustrated more than 56 books, including 7 that she also wrote. Her author-illustrator title The Very Very Very Long Dog was on the Kids Indie Next Picks List and became a Dreamscape animation. She says, “I'm a huge advocate of silly . . . [and] probably due to this I’m irritatingly 99.9 % happy at all times.” She lives in Tyne & Wear, England.