Penny Dann

Dann was born 30 June 1964 in Slough, England to Julian and Jill Dann.^[1][3] She studied visual communication at the Brighton College of Art,^[3] where a tutor, Raymond Briggs, "encouraged her to develop her character drawings," which "became the basis of her later work".^[1] A piece shared at her end-of-degree show was published in 1985 as One of the Pot.^[1]

Following graduation, she remained in Brighton, though she lived in Sydney and Melbourne in the 1990s and early 2000s. After returning to Brighton, she met Tom Sanderson, "whom she married a few days before her death".

She died from cancer on 20 December 2014.^[1][4]

The Orchard Book of Nursery Rhymes for Your Baby (2010) was a best-selling book.^[1] The first book of Dann's Secret Fairy series sold over two million copies worldwide.^[1]