Do you remember everything you learnt at school? Or do you struggle to help with homework as you find all the facts have simply dropped out of your head? A new series of books devoted to five subject areas – I Used To Know That: English, Maths

Hi, it's me, Joe.Don't know about you but I am getting into the festive spirit bigtime! So much so that I am even willing to put sartorial elegance aside for the sake of appearing suitably Christmassy and as such am donning my very own Christmas

Can you summarise the plot of Birdsong in ten words?Birds sing together, biggest rules the roost, gets his comeuppance!Where did the inspiration come from?I first had the idea when I was a student in Bath –  I used to go to the aviary in Victoria

How did you get into ballet?
My mother sent me to ballet classes when I was five to get rid of some energy – I was a horribly hyper child. I used to go every Saturday with my friends. To start with, I wasn’t interested in becoming a ballerina

a roast dinner, or a pasta dish or soup , I use the same methods as I would in my restaurant. I use flavours, so the food will be seasoned, sweetened, caramelised, or roasted in a certain way. My two sons, Jake, six, and Archie, three, always comment

story plans. Also keep an ear out for funny or interesting things people say – you never know when they might come in useful! Who are your favourite illustrators? I have lots and lots. I really love the Eloise books, illustrated beautifully by Hilary

of his kitchen as the horse would poke its head through from the front garden! Also, my dad was a diver in my early childhood, and I would use his decompression chamber (usually used for the divers to avoid them getting 'the bends') as a Wendy house

particularly funny childhood memories?I used to eat flowers – right off the trees or plant. I remember really clearly if I saw something beautiful I would check no one was looking and lean forward and chomp! I'm working on a whole series of recipes using edible

in discovering her for the first time. It was nice, because I could relax and read the book and know that I was really working at the same time.
What’s interesting about having five different illustrators each doing a book cover? 
The task of an illustrator

and the alien-ee, I know that sibling relationships – especially when they are brand new ones, can be a confusing mish-mash of emotions. In more recent times, many of my friends have started families, which got me thinking two things:1) What a huge (and