Lynne Reid Banks is a best-selling author for children and adults. She is the author of ten acclaimed adult novels, including the ground breaking L Shaped Room, as well as many much-loved books for children. Her classic children's novel The Indian in the Cupboard has sold nearly six million copies worldwide.

She was born in London in 1929, the only child of a Scottish doctor and an Irish actress. During WW2 she was evacuated to the prairies of Canada where she spent 5 years. After studying at RADA in the late 1940's she became an actress and later joined ITN to become one of the first women TV news reporters in Britain.

Her first novel, The L-Shaped Room, was published in 1960 and caused outrage in more conservative quarters for its portrayal of a an unmarried mother-to-be who is thrown out by her father and has to live in the L-shaped room of the title. The novel was later adapted for cinema by the legendary Bryan Forbes and brought great critical acclaim.

In the early 1960's she went to live in a kibbutz in Israel with her husband where she taught English. In 1971 she brought her family back to London where she continued to write for adults and children including her classic children's novel, The Indian in the Cupboard which has sold millions of copies worldwide and was made into a highly successful feature film. Lynne has now written forty five books and lives with her husband in Shepperton, England where she continues to write. Lynne says that writing for children comes much more easily than writing for adults.

"Tiger, Tiger burns brightly to the very last page, and long afterwards too." Michael Morpurgo
Praise for The Indian in the Cupboard:
"An assured piece of storytelling, well able to stand comparison with older classics." Times Educational Supplement
"Enthralling and hair-raising reading." TLS
Praise for The Secret of the Indian:
"There have been many famous stories in which children's toys come alive: this book is in the same great tradition." School Library Association
Praise for The Key to the Indian:
"...a swiftly moving, tightly plotted, exciting, funny tale, which will keep the reader firmly hooked and frantically turning the pages." Carousel