Stephen Biesty is the illustrator who created the highly regarded "Stowaway" and the "Incredible Cross Sections" series. Meredith Hooper has written many childrens books including "The Pear Tree", "The Colour of Light", "Pebble in my Pocket", "Journey to Antartica", "The Journey of Watkin Stench", "The Tomb of Nebamun", "A for Antartica", "Pole Seekers" and "Race to the Pole".

'The book is a fantastic journey through history, combining fact and fiction and rich in language and design.' -- The Bookseller - 21st June 2002 'it speaks to the imagination' Quentin Blake 'it's the kind of book that you do actually look at for a very long time' containing ' images you'd carry with you for the rest of your life' Julia Eccleshare -- Radio 4, Open Book Programme 20021124 'STAR CHOICE. Biesty's illustrations, sweeping across history, combine a sense of panorama with fine detail. A handsome production, of appeal to a wide age range.' -- The Bookseller 20020920 'Biesty's illustrations, rich in fine detail and atmosphere, recreate the different periods of history, and with Meredith Hooper's elegant narrative this adds up to, well, pure gold'. -- The Bookseller - 19th July 2002 20020920 'Stylish Gold... Meredith Hooper's almost poetic narrative demonstrates the richness of source material in telling an extraordinary story. Stephen Biesty illustrates his heart out.' -- Glasgow Sunday Herald 20020901 'Imaginative narrative non-fiction is rare these days, so this book is particularly welcome.' -- Financial Times 20021101 'This is a mervellous and imaginative story of change and renewal. It is also superbly illustrated - with a surprise in every picture. A real treasure from a top author and illustrator team.' -- Junior Education January 2003 20021101 '...a lyrical, concise and compelling narrative.' -- TES 20030221 'The journey is enriched by the detailed and brilliant pictures. The reader takes in history, geography and science through a fascinating narrative that leads us from the distant stars to here and now.' -- Booktrusted News, Spring 2003 20030221

Illustrator: Stephen Biesty studied illustration, specialising in historical and architectural drawings. He achieved international fame with his enormously popular 'Incredible Cross Sections' books, which have sold over 2 million copies worldwide and have won numerous awards. His illustrations are unrivalled for their ambitious scope and extraordinary attention to detail. Author: Meredith Hooper grew up in Australia and came to the UK to do a post-graduate degree at Oxford. She is the author of many remarkable books for children, acclaimed for the way they distil a wealth of research into writing which is both simple and powerful.