Ben Mantle

Ben Mantle was born in Leamington, England, in 1980. He developed an interest in artistic pursuits from an early age, designing covers for his school programmes and participating with great success in competitions at his local library. He studied animation at the Surrey Institute of Art & Design, from which he graduated in 2003. He then gained valuable experience working on Tim Burton’s film *The Corpse Bride*, before moving to Brighton as head of the animation department at a major company.

He was also part of the team that created the CBeebies website, which won the BAFTA ‘Big and Small’ award. Since 2008, he has been working as a children’s book illustrator. The book *Callum’s Incredible Construction Kit*, illustrated by him and written by Jonathan Emmett, was awarded the Bishop’s Stortford Picture Book Prize in 2013.