Catherine Rayner was born in Harrogate and now lives in Edinburgh. She has a BA (Hons) in Visual Communication and Illustration from Leeds College of Art, and Edinburgh College of Art. Much of her inspiration - and occasionally modelling! - for her illustration comes from her pets: her horse Shannon, guinea pig Marvin, dog Ellie, cat Emma and two goldfish, Bruce and Sheila. AUGUSTUS AND HIS SMILE is her first book for Little Tiger Press.