Jo Lodge is an illustrator and paper engineer and was greatly influenced by her artistic parents - her mother, Maureen Roffey, an illustrator, and her father Bernard Lodge, a graphic designer. Jo graduated with a fashion degree from Kingston University and worked for a knitwear company designing their main collection and consulting on projects for Next, Marks & Spencer and Saks Fifth Avenue. Jo is probably best known for her Mr Croc books but her distinctive bright colours and appealing animal characters have been used across a range of children's books including the bestselling Baby's Very First Cloth Book: Faces and Farm. She lives in West Sussex with her husband and two sons.