Rene Cloke was born in Plymouth, England in 1904. During World War II, she worked for the War Office as a tracer, producing maps from photographs for the Royal Air Force, but she spent the rest of her life illustrating greetings cards and children's books. Known for her depictions of fairies, sprites, pixies, and elves, a distinctive feature of Rene's style is the inclusion of faces in trees, which you'll see in many of her illustrations.