Andy Jones is a performer, writer, and former member of the CODCO comedy troupe. He was born in St. John's, Newfoundland, where he co-founded the Resource Centre for the Arts at the L.S.P.U. Hall, co-writing, acting in, and directing many original productions.Among his numerous stage and film credits, Jones starred in, co-wrote, and co-directed the 1986 feature film, The Adventures of Faustus Bidgood. He has written five critically acclaimed one-man comedy shows, as well as Albert, a one-act play for one man and a budgie bird; The Lady with the Lapdog(a radical theatrical adaptation of Anton Chekhov's short story); and the children's plays The Queen of Paradise's Garden, Jack Meets the Cat (co-written with the Sheila's Brush collective) and Jack-Five-Oh (co-written with Philip Dinn). Jones also writes children's books based on Newfoundland Folktales; Jack and Mary in the Land of Thieves, won the Winterset award in 2013.

A native of Slovenia, Darka Erdelji received a Masters of Arts in Puppet Scenography from Prague’s Akadmie Muzickych Umeni. She lived in St. John’s with her Newfoundland-born partner and their children for several years. Darka currently designs puppets for Lutkovno Gledališče Maribor, a state-of-the-art Slovenian puppet theatre housed in a renovated medieval monastery. In the summer of 2015, Darka's artwork for two of the Jack books was featured at “Image. Word. Design: Exploring Picture Book Illustration in Atlantic Canada,” an exhibition at the Acadia University Art Gallery in Wolfville, Nova Scotia. Since returning to Slovenia, she has illustrated two highly praised books by acclaimed Slovenian children's writer Bina Stampe Zmavc.

"If you can’t join this great Newfoundland yarnspinner in the cabin of a schooner, listening to stories and songs by lantern light, then reading his hilarious Jack tales runs a pretty strong second. Andy Jones rolls his newest Jack tale along with cinematic energy, reveling in the choice sounds of Newfoundland English as Jack leaves his coal box behind en route to finding a kingdom of his own. I loved Jack’s canine sidekick Kevin-Phonse (Kevin-Phonse?!!!), part Sancho Panza and part Greek Chorus, who speaks ESL as he comments on Jack’s misadventures. Darka Erdelji’s illustrations dance alongside the story in delightfully perceptive ways." – Dan Yashinsky, founder of the Toronto Storytelling Festival, and author of Suddenly They Heard Footsteps: Storytelling for the Twenty-first Century, and Swimming With Chaucer: A Storyteller’s Logbook

“In Jack, the King of Ashes, when Jack sets his sights on finding Princess Frederica Marie Corella Van Vee Van Vettum (yes, b’y, the language and cadence is that sweet and perfect), we travel willing with Jack and his trusty dog Kevin-Phonse. The story nests inside story nests inside story – the book is structurally perfect as a Matryoshka doll. Complemented by Darka Erdelji’s exquisite, playful illustrations, this book achieves the excellence Bruno Bettelheim wrote of in his classic book The Uses of Enchantment: ‘The delight we experience when we allow ourselves to respond to a fairy tale, the enchantment we feel, comes not from the psychological meaning of the tale (although this contributes to it) but from its literary qualities – the tale itself is a work of art.’ Jack is a piece of work all right – and every Jack tale by Andy Jones is a work of art." – Sheree Fitch, author of There Were Monkeys in My Kitchen, Sleeping Dragons All Around, If You Could Wear My Sneakers, Mabel Murple and many more

Jack, the King of Ashes is an epic adventure, full to the gills with whizgiggin and puppeteers, shadow shows, and evil sous-chefs, kindly ghosts, a magical rope with knots to untie and a dashing young hero looking to tie the knot. Prose full of humour and wisdom, so fast-paced its feet don’t touch the ground. And illustrations, bold and delicate, lyrical and full of fancy. Jack is a robber, and he’s about to make away with your heart!" – Lisa Moore, author of Caught and February