Cooper is the pen name of Paul Shipton, who grew up in Manchester and went to university in Cambridge. He spent several years teaching English as a foreign language and lived in Istanbul for a year. Paul then moved into publishing, working on science activity books and primary school English materials. He published his first book, Zargon Zoo in 1991. Four years later, he published Bug Muldoon and the Garden of Fear, and relocated with his family to Wisconsin, United States where he works as a freelance writer and editor. He, his wife and two daughters, now divide their time between Cambridge, England and Madison, Wisconsin.