Aileen Francis Paterson (née Henderson) MBE (30 November 1934 – 23 March 2018) was a Scottish writer and illustrator, best known for her series of children's books about Maisie MacKenzie, the kitten.

Biography

Aileen Paterson was born in the Fife town of

Burntisland Burntisland ( , ) is a former Royal burgh and parish in Fife, Scotland, on the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. It was previously known as Wester Kinghorn or Little Kinghorn. The town has a population of 6,269 (2011). Burntisland is known ...

to William and Helen Henderson. As a child, she moved to

Kirkcaldy Kirkcaldy ( ; ; ) is a town and former royal burgh in Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. It is about north of Edinburgh and south-southwest of Dundee. The town had a recorded population of 49,460 in 2011, making it Fife's second-largest s ...

, before gaining a place at Edinburgh Art College in 1951, where she specialised in pottery. She gained a diploma in designs and craft in 1955 and worked at the Portobello potteries in Edinburgh. After marrying her first husband, Bayo Ayodeji, in 1955, she moved to

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. After the marriage ended in divorce, Paterson moved back to Kirkcaldy and earned an education qualification in 1962. She worked as an art teacher in

Fife Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the s ...

in the 1960s. For most of her adult life, she lived in Edinburgh and was a passionate supporter of that city. She worked as an art teacher between the 1960s to 1980s. The title of her first book, ''Maisie Comes to Morningside'' (1984), was inspired by the American crime writer Chester Himes' book ''

Cotton Comes to Harlem ''Cotton Comes to Harlem'' is a 1970 American neo-noir action comedy film co-written and directed by Ossie Davis and starring Godfrey Cambridge, Raymond St. Jacques, and Redd Foxx. The film, later cited as an early example of the blaxploita ...

'' (1965). Maisie Mackenzie, the heroine of Paterson's series of children's books, wears a

kilt A kilt ( ) is a garment resembling a wrap-around knee-length skirt, made of twill-woven worsted wool with heavy pleats at the sides and back and traditionally a tartan pattern. Originating in the Scottish Highland dress for men, it is first r ...

and

Fair Isle Fair Isle ( ; ), sometimes Fairisle, is the southernmost Shetland island, situated roughly from the Shetland Mainland and about from North Ronaldsay (the most northerly island of Orkney). The entire archipelago lies off the northernmost coa ...

jumper and lives in Morningside, a suburb of

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

. Maisie is a brave, adventurous kitten exploring a world that ultimately reinforces the good things in life such as friendship, food, fun, community and football. The wit and finely tuned social observation engages adults as much as children. Maisie's world is almost entirely populated by cats, so that although there is a belligerent budgie and the occasional horse, there are no dogs or humans. However, Maisie's adventures take place in real places (reflected in the books' illustrations) such as

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, and

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. ''Maisie Bites the Big Apple'' features the

Marc Chagall Marc Chagall (born Moishe Shagal; – 28 March 1985) was a Russian and French artist. An early modernism, modernist, he was associated with the School of Paris, École de Paris, as well as several major art movement, artistic styles and created ...

murals in the Metropolitan Opera House. Paterson's final book in the series (2006) sees Maisie investigating strange goings-on in Edinburgh's Botanic Gardens. In 2011,

Lothian Buses Lothian Buses is a major bus operator based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is the largest municipal bus company in the United Kingdom: the City of Edinburgh Council (through Transport for Edinburgh) owns 91%, Midlothian Council 5%, East Lothia ...

made Maisie the face of the Number 5 bus, which goes through the character's home district of Morningside. Several stories were also turned into an animated series called ''

Meeow! ''Meeow!'' (Gaelic version: ''Meusaidh'') is a 2000 Scottish animated children's series based on the Maisie MacKenzie books by Aileen Paterson, and produced simultaneously in English and Gaelic versions. The series is about a young cat named M ...

'' starring

Stanley Baxter Stanley Livingstone Baxter (born 24 May 1926) is a retired Scottish actor, comedian, impressionist and author. Baxter began his career as a child actor on BBC Scotland and later became known for his British television comedy shows '' The Stanley ...

Death and legacy

Paterson died on 23 March 2018 at the age of 83. Following her death in 2018, a memorial stone featuring an image of 'Maisie of Morningside' was raised in Edinburgh's Grange Cemetery, on the site of her son Max's burial plot. The grave lies in the enclosed modern section to the west of the main cemetery.

Awards and honours

In the 2015 Birthday Honours, she was awarded an MBE for services to children's literature.

Selected works

# ''Maisie comes to Morningside'' (1984) # ''Maisie goes to Glasgow'' (1984) # ''Maisie's Mystery Tour'' (1984) # ''Maisie Meets her Match'' (1984) # ''Maisie in London'' (1985) # ''Maisie and the Monster'' (1985) # ''Little Marco'' (1987) # ''Maisie goes to School'' (1988) # ''Maisie and the Space Invader'' (1988) # ''Maisie and the Posties'' (1988) # ''Maisie's Festival Adventure'' (1988) # ''Maisie Loves Paris'' (1989) # ''Maisie goes to Hospital'' (1989) # ''Maisie's Colouring Book'' (1990) # ''What Maisie did Next'' (1991) # ''Maisie in the Rainforest'' (1992) # ''Maisie and the Puffer'' (1992) # ''The Pigs of Puddledub'' (1992) # ''Maisie Digs up the Past'' (1994) # ''Maisie at the Edinburgh Book Festival'' (1994) # ''Maisie Goes to Hollywood'' (1994) # ''Maisie's Merry Christmas'' (1995) # ''Maisie's Second Colouring Book'' (1995) # ''Maisie's Fun and Games Activity Book'' (1996) # ''Children's Guide to Edinburgh llustrated' (1997) # ''Maisie and the Pirates'' (1998) # ''Maisie's Millennium Calendar'' (1999) # ''Maisie Jumps into Japan'' (2000) # ''Maisie Bites the Big Apple'' (2002) # ''Maisie and the Abominable Snowcat'' (2004) # ''Maisie and the Botanic Garden Mystery'' (2006) # ''Maisie's Botanic Activity Book'' (2008) Paterson also contributed to the following anthologies: * ''Braw Stories'' (2005) * ''Scottish Summer Schools'' (2007)

References

External links

The Write Stuff – National Library of ScotlandThe Scottish Book Trust Author Details Aileen Paterson
{{DEFAULTSORT:Paterson, Aileen 1934 births 2018 deaths Alumni of the Edinburgh College of Art Members of the Order of the British Empire People from Burntisland People from Kirkcaldy Scottish children's writers Scottish illustrators Scottish women artists Scottish women writers Writers from Edinburgh