My first picture book, George and Sophie’s Museum Adventure, was published in 1999 by Orchard Books. I illustrated it too, and this led to further books with Orchard, such as Ludwig and the Chocolate Biscuit Tree, the story of a daft little badger who finds a chocolate digestive and decides to plant it like a seed. Don’t try this at home, kids.
This was followed by a series of stories about a noisy tiger called Clovis: The Loudest Roar, The Biggest Splash and The Noisiest Night. These were published by Oxford University Press in the UK and Arthur Levine in the US. For a time there was even a little Clovis toy.
From 2006, repetitive strain issues in my hands led me to drop the illustration side of picture book creation, and concentrate on writing instead. My first picture book in rhyme, Jack’s Tractor, was published by Hachette in 2009. It was brilliantly illustrated by the talented John Kelly, and was shorlisted for the Sheffield Children’s Book Award, 2010. Click here to see the amazing David Hasselhof reading the book on CBeebies in 2013.
Then I wrote a book for the very young called Little Mouse and the Big Cupcake. I’ll leave you to guess what it’s about. Illustrated by Jill Barton and published by Boxer Books, it is also available in the US.
My latest picture book is The Pets You Get — a crazy carnival of all the animals you’d never let your children keep at home. There’s even a dragon! It’s illustrated by the incomparable Adrian Reynolds, and was published by Andersen Press in September 2012. It won the Stockport Schools’ Book Award, 2013 (early years category) and also the Oldham Brilliant Books Award. Order it now and you’ll never look at guinea pigs in the same way again.
Early 2014 saw Too Many Tickles finally reach the shelves through Macmillan Books. Charmingly illustrated by Penny Dann, it was read on CBeebies by Lisa Riley in December 2014.
