Gill McLean was brought up in rural Lancashire, England, and spent her childhood drawing, raising poultry, and exploring hills and streams. To this day, she maintains an interest in all things wiggly. Natural history became the basis upon which she developed her illustrations, which then led to creating characters for greeting cards and children's books. From illustration, Gill fell into graphic design and spent some time working with Templar Publishing as an in-house designer, making every type of children's book from pop-ups to classics. After years spent in the wilderness (Oxford, Cambridge, Guildford, and Melbourne, Australia), she finally returned to Northern England with her Yorkshire-born husband and two daughters, moving to Richmond in 2006. Gill has written, illustrated, and designed many children's books for publishers such as Templar, Oxford University Press, QED, Parragon, and HarperCollins. Her books have also been featured on CBeebies (BBC).