Sam Taplin has been in love with words for as long as he can remember. He started writing poetry at primary school, where Mrs Holloway warned him never to put a word in a poem just because it rhymed - advice he still tries to follow when wrestling with a new poem. After studying English literature at university he was full of long words and complicated sentences, but writing books for children has helped him to realise that you don't need lots of words to say something properly - just the right ones.