From Root to Shoot: The Story of Forests

Kay Barnham (Author) Kay Barnham was born in Barrow-in-Furness, grew up in Carlisle, went to college in Brighton, and lived in Hove for a while, before sailing for Kinsale, Co Cork, popping back to Hove and then moving to the New Forest with her husband and daughter. And never at any point has she lived more than ten miles from the sea. She began working in children's publishing in 1992. She was an editor first of all, working on illustrated non-fiction and learning fun facts like how long it would take to walk to the moon - nine years - and how to spell palaeontology. Next, she commissioned fiction titles, editing picture books, storybooks and novels. And then she got the chance to write her own books, which she thinks is quite the best job ever. Except possibly being a chocolatier. She writes non-fiction as Kay Barnham. Her specialist subjects include ice-skating, Isambard Kingdom Brunel, lightning, fairies, Roald Dahl, Sir Isaac Newton, Christmas, dolphins, Florence Nightingale and very bad cracker jokes. And chocolate. She also writes fiction as Kay Woodward, including the Skate School series for Usborne and the novels Jane Airhead and Wuthering Hearts for Andersen Press. Altogether, she's written about a hundred books. Her favourite colour is navy blue. Her favourite chocolate is 85% cocoa solids.Josy Bloggs (Illustrator) Josy Bloggs is a published illustrator and author of children's non-fiction books. She has always been passionate about reading, and developed a love for books about nature and exploring the world from an early age. She loves nothing more than seeing young readers engage with the natural world through her books. Some of her published credits as an illustrator include the series Blue Worlds which explores each of the world's five oceans and major seas in beautifully illustrated detail.

• 1: The forest begins2: The story of a seed3: Going underground4: Secrets of the forest floor.5: From seed to sapling .6: Flowers, ferns and moss7: Trunks and bark8: In the shade of the understory9: Stretching far and wide10: Capturing the Sun11: Up in the treetops12: All the colours of the forest13: Forests around the world14: Glossary15: Learn more16: Index