JO PARRY was born on the south coast of England in the early 1970s and spent her childhood in and around Dorset and the New Forest. As a child, she was inspired by books such as A A Milne's Winnie the Pooh and Robert Louis Stevenson's A Child's Garden of Verse. Jo Parry subsequently completed five years at Art College and is now a professional illustrator and artist. She describes her artwork as "fun, bold, colour-inspired and unpretentious" and usually works in soft pastels. Her hobbies outside the artistic field include photography, travel, sport and cooking.