Eric Hill was born in London in 1927. He left school at 15 to work in a shipping office in the city. At 16 he joined an art studio as a messenger where he was encouraged to draw cartoons in his spare time. In 1976 Eric's son Christopher was born and when he was 2 years old Eric made up a story about a small puppy to read to him at bedtime. In 1980 'Where's Spot?' was published and the rest is history.