A retired Early Years teacher, Hilary Fairbairn lives in a village in Leicestershire with her husband, their cat Toby, and within easy reach of their daughter, who lives and works in London. During the twenty years she spent living in London, she taught in primary schools across Hackney and Tower Hamlets, developing a deep understanding of children's interests, imagination, and love of stories.
She studied Illustration at Brighton Polytechnic Faculty of Art and Design (now the University of Brighton), followed by a PGCE in teacher training and later theatre design. These creative studies sparked a lifelong interest in costume, fashion, and visual storytelling.
A passionate lover of fairy tales and classic children's books such as The Tiger Who Came to Tea and Where the Wild Things Are, she has always enjoyed sharing stories with young children. Throughout her teaching career, she observed how storytime could captivate even the most energetic children, drawing them into worlds of imagination and wonder.
This story, together with its accompanying recipes, has been shared with and enjoyed by children from Reception to Year 2 throughout its development, earning an enthusiastic seal of approval from its young audience.