FAVOURITE CHILDREN'S AUTHORS
Find their books on www.espabooks.com
Julia Donaldson (1948) is an English writer, playwright and performer, and the 2011–2013 Children's Laureate. She is best known for her popular rhyming stories for children, especially those illustrated by Axel Scheffler, which include The Gruffalo, Room on the Broom and Stick Man.
Michael Morpurgo, (1943) is an English book author, poet, playwright, and librettist who is known best for children's novels such as War Horse (1982). His work is noted for its "magical storytelling", for recurring themes such as the triumph of an outsider or survival, for characters' relationships with nature, and for vivid settings such as the Cornish coast or World War I. Morpurgo became the third Children's Laureate, from 2003 to 2005
Roald Dahl (1916 –1990) was a British novelist, short story writer, poet, screenwriter, and fighter pilot. His books have sold more than 250 million copies worldwide. Dahl's works for children include James and the Giant Peach, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda, The Witches, Fantastic Mr Fox, The BFG, The Twits and George's Marvellous Medicine.
Eric Carle (1929) is an American designer, illustrator, and writer of children's books. He is most famous for The Very Hungry Caterpillar, a picture book that has been translated into more than 62 languages. Since it was published in 1969 he has illustrated more than 70 books, most of which he also wrote. He won the biennial Laura Ingalls Wilder Award for his career contribution to American children's literature in 2003.
Enid Mary Blyton (1897 –1968) was an English children's writer whose books have been among the world's best-sellers since the 1930s, selling more than 600 million copies. Blyton's books are still enormously popular, and have been translated into 90 languages; She wrote on a wide range of topics including education, natural history, fantasy, mystery, and biblical narratives and is best remembered today for her Famous Five, and Secret Seven series.
J. K. Rowling (1965) is a British novelist and screenwriter who is best known for writing the Harry Potter fantasy series. The books have won multiple awards, and sold more than 400 million copies. They have become the best-selling book series in history and been the basis for a series of films, over which Rowling had overall approval on the scripts and was a producer on the final films in the series.
Dr. Seuss (1904 –1991) was a German-American author, political cartoonist, poet, animator, book publisher, and artist, best known for authoring more than 60 children's books. His work includes several of the most popular children's books of all time, selling over 600 million copies and being translated into more than 20 languages by the time of his death.
David Walliams (1971) is a writer of children's books. To date he has sold more than 12.5 million copies and his books have been translated into 46 languages. He has been described as "the fastest growing children's author in the UK": his literary style has been compared to that of Roald Dahl.
Jeff Kinney (1971) is an American cartoonist, producer and author of children's books, including the Diary of a Wimpy Kid book series.
Rick Riordan (1964) is an American author. He is known for writing the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series, about a twelve-year-old boy who discovers he is a son of Poseidon.. His books have spawned related media, such as graphic novels and short story collections.
Oliver Jeffers (1977) is a Northern Irish artist, illustrator. He is widely known for his picture books for children. How to Catch a Star debuted in 2004 to critical acclaim, and Lost and Found (2005), won the Nestlé Smarties Book Prize Gold Medal 2006, the Blue Peter Book Award 2006 and was shortlisted for the Kate Greenaway Medal the same year. The Incredible Book Eating Boy (2007) won the Irish Book Awards Children's Book of the Year, and his fourth Book The Way Back Home was released in September 2007 and The Great Paper Caper was released in September 2008. Stuck & This Moose Belongs to Me were both on The New York Times Best Seller list.
Nick Sharratt (1962) is a British illustrator and author of children's books, and was chosen to be the Official Illustrator for World Book Day 2006. Sharratt has illustrated around 200 books. He has won numerous awards including the Children's Book Award, the Nestle Children's Book Award, The Right Start Award (book category), the Under Fives non-fiction She/WHSmith Award and the Educational Writers Award.
Rachel Renée Russell is an American author of the children’s book series Dork Diaries and The Misadventures of Max Crumbly. Dork Diaries, written in a diary format, uses doodles, drawings, and comic strips to chronicle the daily life of the main character, Nikki Maxwell, as she struggles to fit in and survive middle school.
Liz Pichon (1963) is a British illustrator and children's writer. She is best known for her Tom Gates series of "satirical realist comedy fiction", which have been translated into 42 languages, and sold more than four million copies.