Bold Beasts started after Rachel Braddock retired from a lifetime of teaching at schools around Liverpool. She had drawers full of stories which she had already been reading to children and knew that they loved them. All the stories have animals with human traits as their central character and all use rhyme and alliteration which makes reading them aloud as much fun as listening to them. To give each character a look to suit their personality, Rachel teamed up with her old college friend, Joy Rutherford, who had recently completed a masters degree in children’s book illustration.