NORTHERN HIGHLIGHTS Rachael Dean   Where are you based, and how would you sum up the place in three words? I live in a small seaside village called Ainsdale, just north of Liverpool, with a  gorgeous National Trust on my doorstep. I would describe it as rural, peaceful, and  welcoming. What is special to you about illustrating children's books, and what is your  favourite thing about it? I find it really special when I’m trusted to breathe life into someone else’s words. And  one of my favourite things about this is when I get that right! There’s nothing more  fulfilling than when the author and reader is happy with the artwork of a book, and  when I feel I can be proud of what I’ve created. It’s also a dream to be able to  completely fall into to the process of creating a book, and it ends up not feeling like  work at all because it’s so enjoyable. Tell us about the most recent books you've worked on I’ve just finished illustrating my fourth middle grade fiction title with Ja

GUEST NORTHERN HIGHLIGHT MEG FLETCHER  Can you tell us more about Dolly Parton's Imagination Library? Absolutely! Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is a book gifting programme that delivers quality, age- appropriate books to children at home each month from birth until their fifth birthday, completely  free to their families. Dolly started the Imagination Library in 1995 in Sevier County, Tennessee  where she grew up. It became such a success and loved by so many families that the programme  began to scale up in 2000, and by 2003, we had mailed our one millionth book. In 2007, the  Imagination Library was brought over to the UK and fast forward to today, we have over 2 million  children receiving a book each month across five countries.  What does your role of Regional Director entail and what a typical workday looks like  for you? I’m based in York and am the Regional Director for the North of England and Northern Ireland for  the Dollywood Foundation UK, which looks after the Im