Become a time-traveller and go back 4 billion years to explore our amazing prehistoric planet!

See volcanoes, asteroids and the fiery beginnings of our Earth. Witness the explosion of life on our planet. Get close up to Titlaalik, the very first creature to crawl on land and Rhizodont, the monstrous scaled fish. Fly with a pterosaur, hang out with apes, ride a mammoth - and then meet the very first humans and help to make an amazing cave painting.

MICK MANNING

Manning was raised in Haworth, near Keighley, Yorkshire, England. He first attended Bradford College, then studied graphic design at the University of Northumbria and later Natural History Illustration at the Royal College of Art, where his tutors included John Norris Wood, Quentin Blake, and Sheila Robinson. In 1990 he devised and ran the BA honours Illustration option at the Glasgow School of Art as Course Leader. As an artist Manning is represented by Godfrey & Watt, and St Judes. Manning is a Fellow of the English Association and in 2015, was awarded an Honorary Fellowship by Bradford College.

Manning is best known for his long-term collaboration as a writer and co-illustrator with his partner the illustrator and painter Brita Granström. In 1998, The Scotsman newspaper wrote, "Mick Manning and Brita Granström’s approach to non-fiction for younger children has revolutionised our bookshelves."

BRITTA GRANSTROM

Brita Granström (born 1969) is a Swedish artist who graduated from Konstfack Stockholm in 1994 and now lives and works between Great Britain and her homeland as a painter and illustrator.

Granström was shortlisted for the ALMA (Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award), in 2013 and 2014 for her children’s books. The ALMA is the largest children’s literature award in the world. She was elected as a Fellow of the English Association in May 2011. As a children’s book illustrator, Granström often collaborates with her associate and partner, Mick Manning. They have produced various children’s titles, such as Charlie’s War Illustrated (Frances Lincoln) - winner of the 2014 English Association Award. Taff in the WAAF, their book about Manning’s mother’s war service for Bletchley Park, won the English Association Award in 2011. In 1998 The Scotsman newspaper wrote: "Mick Manning and Brita Granström’s approach to non-fiction for younger children has revolutionised our bookshelves".