Elizabeth Dale is a best-selling author of over seventy books, from picture books to novels for young readers. Some of them deal with issues she has faced with her own children, like Scrumpy (Andersen) about a pet dying, or Hammy (Orchard) about an adventurous hamster. Others like Don't Get Dirty Gertie (Bloomsbury), When Betsy Came To Babysit (Tamarind), The Carrot Cake Catastrophe (Gullane), Off to Market (Frances Lincoln) and Nothing Can Frighten a Bear (Nosy Crow) are either pure fun or containing a life-affirming moral.