Sam grew up in Buckinghamshire, falling off various bicycles before reading books and making up his own stories about more competent heroes. After studying English at Cambridge University, he joined Usborne in 2013, and now writes titles ranging from fold-out solar systems to maze books full of swashbuckling pirates. Sometimes, Sam cycles to work.Sam Taplin grew up in a beautiful valley in Yorkshire, where he dreamed of being a writer, and after three years reading other people's books at university he started writing his own for Usborne. He's been doing it ever since. When he's not writing about lonely rabbits or inquisitive bears, he likes doing card tricks, writing songs and playing long games of chess by the fire.Before joining Usborne, Simon worked in Moscow as sports editor for a local paper. These days he writes about things that aren't actually real, but are very important nevertheless. Monsters, dragons, superheroes - all the sort of stuff he loved as a child. And still does, truth be told.

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• Chapters in this book include:- Cars- Trains- Planes