Kate Leake is a freelance illustrator, based in Stoke-on-Trent. She graduated from The North Wales School of Art & Design in 2004, with a first class BA Hons in Illustration for Children’s Publishing and a Macmillan Children’s Book Prize for her first book ‘The Best Chip’.Since then, Kate has been happily scribbling away in her studio Planet Pencil, working on numerous children’s books and designs for the greetings industry. Her style combines hand drawing and painting with digital techniques, to create lively and humorous illustrations. Some of Kate’s past clients include Alison Green Books, Macmillan, Meadowside, Usborne, Stripes, Hallmark, Hotchpotch and The Monster Factory.When not busy doodling, Kate loves playing the saxophone, going for lovely long walks or whipping up a giant fruit cake. Kate lives with her super brainy husband, Alan (who knows a lot more about the ionosphere than she does!)