The combination of exciting action, vivid characters and fabulously detailed illustrations still make the Little Tim series enthralling. The Ultimate First Book Guide

Edward Ardizzone was the eldest of five children. In 1905 his family moved to Ipswich, where he learnt to know and love the little coastal steamers that he was to draw so often in the Little Tim books. Illustrator of more than 170 much-loved children's books, Edward Ardizzone was awarded the Kate Greenaway Medal in 1956 and the CBE in 1971. He died in 1979. Comedian, actor and writer Stephen Fry was born in 1957 in London and brought up in Norfolk. He attended Queen's College Cambridge from 1979, joining the Cambridge Footlights Dramatic Club where he met Hugh Laurie, with whom he forged a highly successful creative partnership. He also trod the boards with the likes of Emma Thompson and Tony Slattery in the Footlights. Critical acclaim was followed by popular appeal with the move to television. Memorable outings included Blackadder, A Bit of Fry & Laurie and Jeeves and Wooster. Big screen outings included Wilde, Gosford Park and Peter's Friends. He also read all of the Harry Potter books for the highly successful unabridged audiobook edtions. He has written for television and screen, and as a newspaper columnist - for the Literary Review, Daily Telegraph and The Guardian. Stephen Fry's four novels are The Liar, The Hippopotamus, Making History and The Stars' Tennis Balls. He has also published Moab is My Washpot - an autobiography; and Rescuing the Spectacled Bear - his diary of the making of a documentary on the plight of the spectacled bears of Peru. His latest book is Stephen Fry in America. His websites is www.stephenfry.com.