Brian Jacques (pronounces "Brian Jakes") is the author of the Redwall Series, as well as "Seven Strange and Ghostly Tales" and "Castaways of the Flying Dutchman". He has a very nice style, with lots and lots of descriptions, especially of food. I'd recommend Redwall and Castaways of the Flying Dutchman to anyone between 9 and 13. I didn't really like Seven Strange and Ghostly Tales.
He is a life-long resident of Liverpool, born there on June 15th, 1939. He is a luddite, writing all of his stories on an old typewriter in his garden.
He originally wrote the Redwall stories for a school for the blind to which he delivered milk when he was a truck driver. Many people have attributed his excellent descriptions to this fact.
As well as continuing his writing, he now hosts "Jakestown", a radio show on BBC Merseyside in Liverpool. It is a mix of commedy and opera.
People who like Redwall, and Jacques's other writing, are probably the same kind of people that will like Harry Potter, though I have Redwall-fanatic friends who hate HP.