John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born in the Orange Free State (now part of South Africa) in 1892. He was the first of two sons. Tolkien’s father died when he was three years old and the family moved permanently
to England. His mother died when he was twelve years old. Tolkien studied English at Oxford University and worked on the Oxford English Dictionary for a while after serving in the British armed forces in the First World War.

 

Tolkien is best known for the rich worlds he portrayed in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, but he also had a successful academic career
at Oxford. He studied early versions of languages including French, Italian and Finnish. Tolkien went on to invent several languages, including ‘Quenya’ and ‘Sindarin’, which were used
in The Lord of the Rings. A further title, The Simarillion was published after Tolkien’s death.

 

Margaret Mahy was born in New Zealand—the eldest of five children. She studied
at the University of New Zealand, gaining a Bachelor of Arts degree. She worked as a librarian before becoming a full-time writer
in 1980. Margaret began writing poems and stories
as a child, and was often published in local journals.
A Lion in the Meadow, her first published book, was released in 1969. She has since published more than 100 books.

 

Margaret's books include readers, picture books, junior, middle and young adult fiction with titles such as The Great Piratical Rumbustification and Underrunners. Her work is read in many languages worldwide and has won many awards. Humour, fantasy and adventure are all features of her stories. Margaret lives south of Christchurch in the South Island of New Zealand, sharing her home with her cats and dog.