"Packing a Bag for Mars is the complete package for aspiring writers and working teachers seeking an understanding of the nature of poetry and a wide variety of examples to choose from." - Rangi Faith, teacher and poet.

James Norcliffe is a poet as well as an author of children's books. He has been awarded the 2012 University of Otago College of Education's Writer in Residence. The Loblolly Boy won the 2010 NZ Post Junior Fiction Award, as well as being shortlisted for the Esther Glen Medal. He is also the author of its sequel, The Loblolly Boy and the Sorcerer, and of the 2013 book Felix and the Red Rats.

Jenny Cooper lives in Christchurch and has illustrated a number of picture books including the very successful There's a Hole in my Bucket, also a collaboration with the Topp Twins. She has also illustrated Scholastic NZ titles Down in the Forest, Shut the Gate, On a Rabbit Hunt and the Pick'n'Mix anthologies. Her last illustrated novels were The Mad Tadpole Adventure and Stranger Madness.