DownloadThe Portobello Bookshop Gift Guide 2024

Emily Kempster Author

Rebecca Skinner is Head of Speech and Language Therapy and author at Thriving Language Community Interest Company. Co-founded by Rebecca and Becky Poulter Jewson, Thriving Language specialises in early years consultancy, offering training to early years settings and guest lecturing at universities on their undergraduate courses in Early Childhood Studies. Rebecca also works for the Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust as a Specialist Speech and Language Therapist, specialising in early years and cleft palate.

Emily Kempster is an English teacher with 20 years’ experience working in Gloucestershire secondary schools. Her passion for books inspired her to write from a young age, anything from short plays to ghost stories. More recently, in an attempt to entertain her young family and support her youngest daughter’s difficulties with some speech sounds, she has focused on writing narrative poems. She hopes that the Mindy and Mo adventures will capture the imagination of young readers as well as support their speech sound development.

Lucy Cannon is a painter, illustrator and designer. Interested in all things creative from an early age, she studied Art and Graphic Design at college before heading into a successful management career in the voluntary sector. To follow her passion for art she set up Imagination by Lucy which offers mural painting, illustration and creating custom home furnishings and apparel. Lucy is also involved in charity work, helping families who have children with heart conditions, but her most rewarding role to date is that of mum to two young children, one of whom had significant speech difficulties up to the age of 5. She now juggles time between bringing up her family, running her business, helping others and eating too much chocolate.