The Appletree Animal Agency

Balen has a wonderful gift for blending humour and emotion and this heart-warming animal adventure overflows with both. * Daily Mail *[a] sweet story about an animal-loving girl […] Balen is a beautiful writer and this series is sweet, gentle, escapist, and warm. * The Bookseller *With its adorably determined heroine and animal escapades, this is a heartwarming start to a series. * The Bookseller, 10 Titles Not to Miss in March *A beautifully written and illustrated story to delight young animal lovers… Katya Balen writes beautifully and there’s humour, drama and moments of real tenderness too in this heartwarming story. Black and white illustrations by Gill Smith catch the fun and excitement and bring the characters, human and animal, brilliantly to life. * LoveReading4Kids, Andrea Reece *First in a heart-warming animal adventure series from Balen, the winner of the 2022 Yoto Carnegie Medal, and Smith. * The Bookseller *

Katya Balen is an award-winning author of books for children. Her debut novel, The Space We’re In, was highly commended for the Branford Boase Award, October, October won the Yoto Carnegie Medal and the UKLA Book Award, and The Light in Everything was shortlisted for the Yoto Carnegie Medal. When she’s not writing books, Katya likes to scroll through dog-rescue websites, bake and attempt to keep her house plants alive. Katya lives in south-east London.

Gill Smith pursued illustration and achieved an MA with distinction in Children’s Book Illustration at the Cambridge School of Art. She was shortlisted for the Batsford Illustration prize and a winner of international competition, “Picture This”. She illustrated Maria’s Island, a retelling of Victoria Hislop’s bestselling book, The Island, reimagined for children. She also illustrated Saving the Butterfly, which was shortlisted for the Klaus Flugge Prize. Gill lives in Liverpool.