The Adventurous Snail

Dick King-Smith served in the Grenadier Guards during the Second World War, and afterwards spent twenty years as a farmer in Gloucestershire, the county of his birth. Many of his stories are inspired by his farming experiences. Later he taught at a village primary school. His first book, The Fox Busters, was published in 1978. He wrote a great number of children's books, including The Sheep-Pig (winner of the Guardian Award and filmed as Babe), Harry's Mad, Noah's Brother, The Hodgeheg, Martin's Mice, Ace, The Cuckoo Child and Harriet's Hare (winner of the Children's Book Award in 1995). At the British Book Awards in 1991 he was voted Children's Author of the Year. In 2009 he was made OBE for services to children's literature. Dick King-Smith died in 2011 at the age of eighty-eight.

Celebrated British actor Andrew Sachs learned English as his second language after his family escaped from Nazi Germany. Andrew's keen appreciation for written language and command of the spoken word has served him throughout his brilliant career in writing and starring on BBC TV and radio (Fawlty Towers), London theatre, and film. Acclaimed as Performer of the Year by the British Spoken Word Association in 2000, Andrew uses his versatility in comedy and serious drama in audiobooks. Andrew has garnered numerous AudioFile Earphones awards, including for his narration of Boy by Roald Dahl.