Susan Meredith grew up in Yorkshire, and when she wasn't playing out or dancing, she was busy reading or making little books of her own, mainly about ballet. She's now written more than 20 real books for Usborne, on subjects ranging from saving the planet to playing football, from world religions to the human body. Her book Growing up won the Times Educational Supplement's senior information book of the year award but her own personal favourite has to be Hamsters.