Eric Hill was born in North London and lived there for many years. He started his artistic career as an art studio messenger and from there went on to become a cartoonist and eventually an art director at a leading advertising agency. In 1978 Eric made up a story about a small puppy to read to his son at bedtime and Spot was born. The success of his first bestselling lift-the-flap classic 'Where's Spot?' in 1980 convinced him to become a full-time author. Eric currently resides in California.