Sputnik’s Guide to Life on Earth Award-winning team by Frank Cottrell Boyce (author) and Steven Lenton (illustrator)

Frank Cottrell Boyce is a screenwriter whose films include Welcome to Sarajevo, Hilary and Jackie and Millions, which was also his first book. He has also written episodes of Coronation Street and Brookside, so you probably know his stories from your TV set. He also wrote the London 2012 Olympics Opening Ceremony! His first children’s book Millions won the Carnegie medal, and was made into a film by Danny Boyle. He used to run a Punch and Judy show, earning a fortune in small change, and just like Damian in Millions, he is a Catholic who is fascinated by stories of the saints. He is not a millionaire and has no plans to rob a bank! However, during a short-lived career as an assistant at a puppet show, he earned a fortune entirely in small change. He believes this is how he first became interested in the problems created by user-unfriendly cash. Just like Damian in Millions, he is a Catholic who is fascinated by stories of the saints.

His second book, Framed was inspired by a news story he’d read in an old scrapbook: During the Second World War, a collection of valuable paintings from the National Gallery was hidden in a slate mine for safekeeping. He couldn’t resist imagining how all of that great art might have affected the people who lived near the mine. Read more