Mini Grey was given her name after being born in a Mini in a car park in Newport, Wales. She studied for an MA in Sequential Illustration at Brighton under the tutelage of John Vernon Lord. Mini also worked as a primary school teacher in Oxford, where she now lives. Her books include Egg Drop, The Pea and the Princess (shortlisted for the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal), Biscuit Bear (winner of the Nestle Children's Book Prize Gold Award), Traction Man is Here (winner of the Boston Horn Book Award and shortlisted for the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal), The Adventures of the Dish and the Spoon (winner of the Nestle Children's Book Prize Bronze Award and winner of the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal), and Traction Man meets Turbodog. Mini Grey is one of the Big Picture's ten Best New Illustrators.
Space Dog by Mini Grey is an anarchic, adrenalin-packed adventure of The Highest Order. Utterly and joyously playful, wildly and lavishly imaginative, this dynamic and delightful journey exploring space and friendship is sublime. -- Zoe * Playing by the Book * Grey’s witty language, from the hilarious exclamations made by Space Dog (“Thundering milkswamps!”, “Shivering Stilton!”) to the deliciously outlandish names of rare alien life forms (the Cruets of West Cutlery, the Fruitons of Crumble Major) has had us all giggling time and again, even on the 15th reading of Space Dog Her pacing is timed to perfection, with dramatic stretches interspersed with moments of great relief and humour, drawing readers, listeners, grown-ups, children ever more closely in to Grey’s fantastic, phenomenal universe Spooniverse. -- Zoe * Playing by the Book * Grey’s illustrations richly illuminate the world she has built to share with us, giving enormous pleasure every time they are returned to. -- Zoe * Playing by the Book * This hilarious and zany story with its weird and wonderful situations is full of laughs - and wonderful illustrations. Great fun. * Parents in Touch * Wonderful stuff! This action-packed adventure is bound to appeal to the numerous established fans of Mini Grey and will I’m certain, win her a whole host of new ones. This is overflowing with exciting happenings, visual jokes and verbal ones; and every turn of the page brings fantastic and frenzied features to divert and delight. -- Jill Bennett * Red Reading Hub * Illustrated and told in Mini Grey's inimitable style, the pages are a riot of graphic creativity. She employs effective devices such as dramatic double-page spreads, cartoon character depictions, comic strip formats, action packed geometric frames and an abundance of snappy humour conveyed through speech bubbles or blocks of text. The hectic impossibility of this pacey tale offers huge appeal to young readers who enjoy extending imaginative boundaries. -- Carousel * Catriona Nicholson *