Lauren Margot Peachy Child (born Helen Child; 29 November 1965) is an English children's author and illustrator. She is best known for the

Charlie and Lola Charlie and Lola are fictional children created by the English writer and illustrator Lauren Child in 2000. They were introduced in a series of picture books and later adapted as animated television characters. Lola is an energetic and imaginat ...

picture book series and other book series. Her influences include

E. H. Shepard Ernest Howard Shepard OBE MC (10 December 1879 – 24 March 1976) was an English artist and book illustrator. He is known especially for illustrations of the anthropomorphic animal and soft toy characters in ''The Wind in the Willows'' and ''Win ...

Quentin Blake Sir Quentin Saxby Blake, (born 16 December 1932) is an English cartoonist, caricaturist, illustrator and children's writer. He has illustrated over 300 books, including 18 written by Roald Dahl, which are among his most popular works. For his ...

Carl Larsson Carl Olof Larsson (; 28 May 1853 – 22 January 1919) was a Swedish painter representative of the Arts and Crafts movement. His many paintings include oils, watercolors, and frescoes. He is principally known for his watercolors of idyllic fa ...

, and

Ludwig Bemelmans Ludwig Bemelmans (April 27, 1898 – October 1, 1962) was an Austrian-American writer and illustrator of children's books and adult novels. He is known best for the ''Madeline'' picture books. Six were published, the first in 1939. Early life ...

. Child introduced Charlie and Lola in 2000 with ''I Will Not Ever Never Eat A Tomato'' and won the annual

Kate Greenaway Medal The Kate Greenaway Medal is a British literary award that annually recognises "distinguished illustration in a book for children". It is conferred upon the illustrator by the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) ...

from the

Library Association The Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals, since 2017 branded CILIP: The library and information association (pronounced ), is a professional body for librarians, information specialists and knowledge managers in the U ...

for the year's most "distinguished illustration in a book for children". For the 50th anniversary of the Medal (1955–2005), a panel named it one of the top ten winning works, which comprised the shortlist for a public vote for the nation's favourite. It finished third in the public vote from that shortlist.

Life

Lauren Child was born in Berkshire in 1965 and was raised in

Marlborough, Wiltshire Marlborough ( , ) is a market town and civil parish in the English county of Wiltshire on the Old Bath Road, the old main road from London to Bath. The town is on the River Kennet, 24 miles (39 km) north of Salisbury and 10 miles ...

, where her father led the art department at

Marlborough College ( 1 Corinthians 3:6: God gives the increase) , established = , type = Public SchoolIndependent day and boarding , religion = Church of England , president = Nicholas Holtam , head_label = Master , head = Louis ...

and her mother taught in a primary school. She was the middle child of three daughters. She changed her first name from Helen to Lauren when she was a child. She attended St John's School and, from 16, Marlborough College. She studied Art briefly at

Manchester Polytechnic Manchester Metropolitan University is located in the centre of Manchester, England. The university has over 40,000 students and over 4,000 members of staff. It is home to four faculties (Arts and Humanities, Business and Law, Health and Educat ...

and later at

City and Guilds of London Art School Founded in 1854 as the Lambeth School of Art, the City and Guilds of London Art School is a small specialist art college located in central London, England. Originally founded as a government art school, it is now an independent, not-for-profit ...

. She started her own company, Chandeliers for the People, making lampshades. Between 1998 and 2003 she worked for the design agency Big Fish and includes its founder

Perry Haydn Taylor Perry Haydn Taylor (born 1966) is an English creative director, designer and entrepreneur, who lives in Somerset and works in London. He is the founder and "chief stoker" of Big Fish Design, a brand, design and marketing consultancy. Career Hayd ...

in the dedications of her books. Two picture books both written and illustrated by Child were published in 1999, and also issued in the U.S. within the year: ''I Want a Pet!'' and ''Clarice Bean, That's Me''. The latter, published by

Orchard Books Grolier was one of the largest American publishers of general encyclopedias, including ''The Book of Knowledge'' (1910), ''The New Book of Knowledge'' (1966), ''The New Book of Popular Science'' (1972), ''Encyclopedia Americana'' (1945), ''Acade ...

, inaugurated the Clarice Bean series, was a highly commended runner-up for the Greenaway Medal, and made the

Nestlé Smarties Book Prize The Nestlé Children's Book Prize, and Nestlé Smarties Book Prize for a time, was a set of annual awards for British children's books that ran from 1985 to 2007. It was administered by BookTrust, an independent charity that promotes books and ...

shortlist. Next year she won the Greenaway Medal for the first

book, ''I Will Not Ever, NEVER Eat a Tomato''. Her timing was good, for a bequest by Colin Mears had provided a £5,000 cash prize to supplement the medal beginning that year. She won a second Smarties Prize in 2002 for ''That Pesky Rat'', which was commended for the Greenaway too. In the same year she wrote her first children's novel, ''Utterly Me, Clarice Bean'', one of 39 books nominated by the librarians for the Carnegie Medal. Her second novel in this series, ''Clarice Bean Spells Trouble'' was shortlisted for the 2005

British Book Awards The British Book Awards or Nibbies are literary awards for the best UK writers and their works, administered by '' The Bookseller''. The awards have had several previous names, owners and sponsors since being launched in 1990, including the Nationa ...

Children's Book of the Year. The third novel, ''Clarice Bean, Don't Look Now'' was published in 2007. Child's illustrations contain different media including magazine cuttings, collage, material and photography as well as traditional watercolours. She is the illustrator of the ''Definitely Daisy'' series by Jenny Oldfield. A television series based on her ''Charlie and Lola'' books was made by Tiger Aspect for

CBeebies CBeebies is a British free-to-air public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the brand used for all BBC content for children aged 6 years and under. Its sister channel CBBC is aimed at older childr ...

, on which Child was an Associate Producer. Three series of 26 episodes and two specials were made. ''Charlie and Lola'' has been sold throughout the world, and won BAFTAs in 2007 for Best children's Television Show and Best Script. She was announced as the new

Children's Laureate Children's Laureate, now known as the 'Waterstones Children's Laureate' is a prestigious position awarded in the United Kingdom once every two years to a "writer or illustrator of children's books to celebrate outstanding achievement in their fie ...

for the UK on 7 June 2017 at a ceremony at Hull City Hall.

Charlie and Lola

''Charlie and Lola'' is a series of picture books made by Lauren Child and was later adapted into a children's

TV show A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed bet ...

. Each half-hour format show contains two segments with different plots, each starting off with Charlie saying, "I have this little sister, Lola. She is small and very funny." Charlie was based on her boyfriend, Soren, who used to wear shirts just like Charlie's, but with his name on it. Lola was based on a

pixie A pixie (also pisky, pixy, pixi, pizkie, and piskie in Cornwall and Devon, and pigsie or puggsy in the New Forest) is a mythical creature of British folklore. Pixies are considered to be particularly concentrated in the high moorland areas ar ...

-looking girl Child saw on a train who was with her parents, a young couple, and kept bombarding them with questions. Soren Lorenson was based on Lauren's boyfriend's sister's "better" imaginary brother, and so Soren Lorenson became Lola's imaginary friend.

Clarice Bean

''Clarice Bean'' is a picture book and novel series by Lauren Child aimed at children and young teenagers. Her full name is Clarice Bean Tuesday. She is best friends with Betty P Moody, and Karl Wrenbury is another friend of hers. She is enemies with Grace Grapello and Mrs Wilberton (her teacher). She is a not a very good speller and she day-dreams a lot. Her family consists of her mum, dad, younger brother Minal Cricket, older sister Marcie, her even older brother Kurt, her grandad and her granny who lives in America and who phones regularly. Clarice Bean is a fan of a book series called ''Ruby Redfort''. Initially fictional, the ''Ruby Redfort'' series was later written by Child, with the first book published in 2011. The books in the ''Clarice Bean'' series are: *''Clarice Bean, That's Me'' - picture book - about Clarice's big family. *''My Uncle is a Hunkle, Says Clarice Bean'' - picture book - Clarice's parents have gone away and she is looked after by her Uncle. *''What Planet Are You From Clarice Bean?'' - picture book - Clarice and her brother Kurt try to save Earth. *''Utterly Me, Clarice Bean'' - novel - Clarice has to do a dreary book project but there's a prize she wants to win. *''Clarice Bean Spells Trouble'' - novel - Clarice is in big trouble and it's all because of spelling. *''Clarice Bean, Don't Look Now!'' - novel - Clarice has a worry list and is wondering what her worst worry is.

Ruby Redfort

In 2009, Child signed a new six-book deal with

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News C ...

for the release of her ''Ruby Redfort'' series. Ruby Redfort, undercover agent and mystery solver, is familiar to Lauren's readers as

Clarice Bean The Clarice Bean series is a series of children's books written and illustrated by English author Lauren Child from 1999. The stories follow middle schooler Clarice Bean and her challenges navigating the complex ethical, social and philosophical q ...

's favourite literary character. Ruby is a genius code-cracker, a daring detective, and a gadget-laden special agent who just happens to be a thirteen-year-old girl. She and her slick side-kick butler, Hitch, foil crimes and get into loads of scrapes with evil villains, but they're always ice-cool in a crisis. The first book in the series, ''Ruby Redfort: Look into My Eyes'' was released in September 2011 in hard back, with the paperback version released in July 2012. The secret codes used in the book were developed by Child and mathematician

Marcus du Sautoy Marcus Peter Francis du Sautoy (; born 26 August 1965) is a British mathematician, Simonyi Professor for the Public Understanding of Science at the University of Oxford, Fellow of New College, Oxford and author of popular mathematics and popu ...

. The main codes in all five books are based around senses. The first book: sight, the second book: hearing, the third book: smell, the fourth being touch and the fifth being taste. A second Ruby book, ''Ruby Redfort, Take Your Last Breath'' was followed by a third, ''Catch Your Death''. A fourth Ruby novel, ''Feel the Fear'' was released on 18 November 2014. A fifth book was released on 9 November 2015 titled ''Pick Your Poison''. The sixth and final book, ''Blink and You Die'', was released in October 2016. The first handbook in the Ruby Redfort series is ''Hang in There Bozo: The Ruby Redfort Emergency Survival Guide for Some Tricky Predicaments''.

Works

As writer and illustrator

* ''Clarice Bean, That's Me'' (1999) —first in the Clarice Bean series * ''I Want a Pet!'' (1999) * '' Beware of the Storybook Wolves'' (2000) * ''I Will Not Ever Never Eat a Tomato'' (2000) —first in the

series * ''My Uncle is a Hunkle Says Clarice Bean'' (2000) —Clarice Bean * ''I Am Not Sleepy and I Will Not Go to Bed'' (2001) —Charlie and Lola * ''My Dream Bed'' (2001), with paper engineering by

Andrew Baron Andrew Michael Baron (born 1970) is the creator of Rocketboom, Know Your Meme, the video aggregator site, Magma and Humanwire. Baron has taught undergraduate and graduate classes at Parsons and was teaching IDTech at M.I.T. when he came up with ...

* ''What Planet Are You From Clarice Bean?'' (2001) —Clarice Bean * ''

That Pesky Rat ''That Pesky Rat'' is a British children's picture book written and illustrated by Lauren Child and published by Orchard UK in 2002. It won the Nestlé Smarties Book Prize in ages category 6–8 years and it was commended runner up for the Kat ...

'' (2002) * ''Utterly me, Clarice Bean'' (2002) —Clarice Bean, the first novel * ''Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Book?'' (2002) * ''I Am Too Absolutely Small for School'' (2003) —Charlie and Lola * ''Clarice Bean Spells Trouble'' (2004) —Clarice Bean novel * ''Hubert Horatio Bartle Bobton-Trent'' (2004) * ''Bat Cat'' (2005) * ''Beware of Storybook Wolves'' (2005) * ''

The Princess and the Pea "The Princess and the Pea" ( da, "Prinsessen paa Ærten"; direct translation: "The Princess on the Pea") is a literary fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen about a young woman whose royal ancestry is established by a test of her sensitivity. ...

'' (2005), adapted from the 1835 fairy tale by

Hans Christian Andersen Hans Christian Andersen ( , ; 2 April 1805 – 4 August 1875) was a Danish author. Although a prolific writer of plays, travelogues, novels, and poems, he is best remembered for his literary fairy tales. Andersen's fairy tales, consist ...

, with photographs by Polly Borland * ''Clarice Bean, Don't Look Now'' (2006) —Clarice Bean novel * ''Who Wants to be a Poodle, I Don't'' (2009) * ''Slightly Invisible'' (2010) —Charlie and Lola * ''The New Small Person'' (2015) * ''How To Raise Your Grown-Ups'' —Hubert Horatio, Book 1 (2018)

As writer

* ''Ruby Redfort, Look into My Eyes'' (2011) * ''Ruby Redfort, Take Your Last Breath'' (2012) * ''Maude: The Not-so-noticeable Shrimpton'' (2012) * ''Ruby Redfort, Hang in There Bozo'' (2013) * ''Ruby Redfort, Catch Your Death'' (2013) * ''Ruby Redfort, Feel The Fear'' (2014) * ''Ruby Redfort, Pick Your Poison'' (2015) * ''Ruby Redfort, Blink And You Die'' (2016)

As illustrator

* ''Addy the Baddy'' (1993) * ''Stand Up for Yourself!'' (1996) * ''The Complete Poetical Works of Phoebe Flood'' (1997) * ''Dream On, Daisy!'' (2001) * ''I'd Like a Little Word, Leonie'' (2001) * ''Just You Wait, Winona'' (2001) * ''What's the Matter, Maya?'' (2001) * ''You Must Be Joking, Jimmy!'' (2001) * ''You're a Disgrace, Daisy'' (2001) * ''Dan's Angel: A Detective's Guide to the Language of Painting'' (2002) * ''

Pippi Longstocking Pippi Longstocking ( sv, Pippi Långstrump) is the fictional main character in an eponymous series of children's books by Swedish author Astrid Lindgren. Pippi was named by Lindgren's daughter Karin, who asked her mother for a get-well story w ...

'' (2007), an edition of the 1945 classic by

Astrid Lindgren Astrid Anna Emilia Lindgren (; ; 14 November 1907 – 28 January 2002) was a Swedish writer of fiction and screenplays. She is best known for several children's book series, featuring Pippi Longstocking, Emil of Lönneberga, Karlsson-on-t ...

* Anne of Green Gables series (2008, 2009), Puffin centennial reissue of the classic by

Lucy Maud Montgomery Lucy Maud Montgomery (November 30, 1874 – April 24, 1942), published as L. M. Montgomery, was a Canadian author best known for a collection of novels, essays, short stories, and poetry beginning in 1908 with ''Anne of Green Gables''. She ...

** ''

Anne of Green Gables ''Anne of Green Gables'' is a 1908 novel by Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery (published as L. M. Montgomery). Written for all ages, it has been considered a classic children's novel since the mid-20th century. Set in the late 19th century, ...

'', orig. 1908 ** ''

Anne of Avonlea Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie. Anne is sometimes used as a male name in t ...

'', orig. 1909 ** ''

Anne of the Island ''Anne of the Island'' is the third book in the ''Anne of Green Gables'' series, written by Lucy Maud Montgomery about Anne Shirley. ''Anne Of the Island'' is the third book of the eight-book sequels written by L. M. Montgomery, about Anne Shirle ...

'', orig. 1915 Child was the cover artist for all three volumes and the author of at least the first volume's introduction.

Awards and honours

Child was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE) in the 2010 New Year Honours"Status Quo stars and Formula One champion honoured"
(New Year Honours). BBC. 31 December 2009. and

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(CBE) in the

2021 Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours for 2021 are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded ...

for services to children's literature. Awards as a writer: * 1999, ''Clarice Bean, That's Me'',

, Bronze award: 6–8 years category * 2000, ''Beware of the Storybook Wolves'',

, Bronze award: 6–8 years category * 2001, ''What Planet Are You From, Clarice Bean?'',

, Kids' Club Network Special Award * 2001, ''What Planet Are You From, Clarice Bean?'',

, Bronze award: 6–8 years category * 2002, ''That Pesky Rat'',

, Kids' Club Network Special Award * 2002, ''That Pesky Rat'',

, Gold award: 6–8 years category * 2005, ''Clarice Bean Spells Trouble'' made the

British Children's Book of the Year The National Book Awards Children's Book of the Year Award is a British literary award, given annually to works of children's literature as part of the Galaxy National Book Awards. It was established in 1996, replacing the British Illustrated C ...

shortlist * 2005, ''Clarice Bean Spells Trouble'' made the

Red House Children's Book Award The Federation of Children's Book Groups Children's Book Award is a set of annual literary prizes for children's books published in the U.K. during the preceding calendar year. It recognises one "Overall" winner and one book in each of three cat ...

shortlist * 2016, ''The New Small Person'',

Charlotte Zolotow Award The Charlotte Zolotow Award is an American literary award presented annually for outstanding writing in a picture book published in the United States during the preceding year. By contrast, the Caldecott Medal is for outstanding illustration in ...

Honor book *2017, ''Absolutely One Thing'', Mathical Book Prize *''Ruby Redfort: Feel the Fear,'' Mathical Honors Awards as an illustrator: * 1999, ''Clarice Bean, That's Me'',

Highly Commended * 2000, ''I Will Not Ever Never Eat A Tomato'', Kate Greenaway Medal Winner * 2000, ''Beware of the Storybook Wolves'', Kate Greenaway Medal shortlisted * 2002, ''That Pesky Rat'', Kate Greenaway Medal Commended * 2002, ''Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Book?'', Kate Greenaway Medal shortlisted

Notes

References

External links

* (slow)
Lauren Child Interview
(2001) at Jubilee Books (archived 2012-03-30) * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Child, Lauren British children's book illustrators English children's writers English illustrators Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Kate Greenaway Medal winners Writers who illustrated their own writing People from Marlborough, Wiltshire People educated at Marlborough College People educated at St John's Marlborough 1965 births Living people British women illustrators Alumni of the City and Guilds of London Art School