Thomas Stearns Eliot was born in St Louis, Missouri in 1888. He was educated at Harvard, at the Sorbonne in Paris, and at Merton College, Oxford. His early poetry was profoundly influenced by the French symbolists, especially Baudelaire and Laforgue. In his academic studies he specialised in philosophy and logic. His doctoral thesis was on F. H. Bradley.

He settled in England in 1915, the year in which he married Vivienne Haigh-Wood and also met his contemporary Ezra Pound for the first time. After teaching for a year or so he joined Lloyds Bank in the City of London in 1917, the year in which he published his first volume, Prufrock and Other Observations.

Axel Scheffler is a star illustrator whose instantly recognizable, warm and witty illustrations have achieved worldwide acclaim and numerous awards.

In addition to his picture books, Axel is the illustrator of wonderful novelty and gift books for Macmillan, such as The Tickle Book and Mother Goose's Nursery Rhymes.