Abie Longstaff is an Australian-born British author of children's fiction known for '' The Fairytale Hairdresser'' picture book series, illustrated by

Lauren Beard Lauren Beard is a British children's book illustrator best known for illustrating ' The Fairytale Hairdresser' series written by Abie Longstaff, published by Penguin Random House. She is from Manchester, England and graduated from Loughborough Un ...

, as well as books for older children and educational books for schools.

Early life and career

Longstaff was raised in Australia and lived in Hong Kong and France before relocating to England, where she resides today. She lives in Hove. Before becoming a writer Longstaff was a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

and a legal policy analyst with an interest in policing.

Writing career

Longstaff appears in the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. Based in London, it is one of the largest libraries in the world, with an estimated collection of between 170 and 200 million items from multiple countries. As a legal deposit li ...

’s current list of the "Top 500 Most Borrowed Authors" at number 192. Along with illustrator Lauren Beard, she is the winner of the Never Too Young Award for the best book for children under four for ''The Mummy Shop''. Longstaff was a judge for the Amnesty (Carnegie) CILIP 2018 Commendation which was eventually won by Angie Thomas's

The Hate U Give ''The Hate U Give'' is a 2017 young adult novel by Angie Thomas. It is Thomas's debut novel, expanded from a short story she wrote in college in reaction to the police shooting of Oscar Grant. The book is narrated by Starr Carter, a 16-yea ...

. In 2019 she was elected to the Management Committee of the

Society of Authors The Society of Authors (SoA) is a United Kingdom trade union for professional writers, illustrators and literary translators, founded in 1884 to protect the rights and further the interests of authors. Membership of the society is open to "anyon ...

Television

The

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...

children's television series '' Sunny Day'', produced by

Silvergate Media Silvergate Media Limited, trading as Sony Pictures Television – Kids, is a television production and brand licensing company based in New York City and London founded in 2011 by Waheed Alli and William Astor. It is a division of Sony Pictures ...

, is based on Longstaff's '' The Fairytale Hairdresser'' books.

Critical reception

Longstaff's fiction incorporates the genre and associated tropes of fairy tales and magic, frequently offset with modern settings and humour. Her '' Fairytale Hairdresser'' books have been described as giving ''‘a new spin on a traditional fairy tale’''.

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

called them considerably more nuanced and subversive than they appear on the surface and they are known for their positive representation of diversity and multiculturalism. Longstaff's books for older children make use of historical references, and complex literary elements such as footnotes and non-fiction material, alongside characters who are ''‘brave and smart and inspirational’''.Dawn Finch
"Tally and Squill written by Abie Longstaff, illustrated by James Brown"
''An Awfully Big Blog Adventure'', 2 Sept 2016, retrieved 28 Jul 2017

Books

Picture books A picture book combines visual and verbal narratives in a book format, most often aimed at young children. With the narrative told primarily through text, they are distinct from comics, which do so primarily through sequential images. The ima ...

* ''Pirate House Swap'', illustrated by Mark Chambers: Random House (2011) * ''The Mummy Shop'', illustrated by Lauren Beard: Scholastic (2013) * ''Just the Job for Dad'', illustrated by Lauren Beard: Scholastic (2014) * ''We’re having a Super Baby!'' illustrated by Jane Massey: Scholastic (2015) * ''Superhero Hotel'', illustrated by Migy Blanco: Scholastic (2017)

The Fairytale Hairdresser series

* ''The Fairytale Hairdresser and Rapunzel'', illustrated by Lauren Beard: Random House (2011) * ''The Fairytale Hairdresser and Cinderella'', illustrated by Lauren Beard: Random House (2012) * ''The Fairytale Hairdresser and Sleeping Beauty'', illustrated by Lauren Beard: Random House (2013) * ''The Fairytale Hairdresser and Snow White'', illustrated by Lauren Beard: Random House (2014) * ''The Fairytale Hairdresser and Father Christmas'', illustrated by Lauren Beard: Random House (2014) * ''The Fairytale Hairdresser and the Little Mermaid'', illustrated by Lauren Beard: Random House (2015) * ''The Fairytale Hairdresser and the Sugar Plum Fairy'', illustrated by Lauren Beard: Random House (2015) * ''The Fairytale Hairdresser and Beauty and the Beast'', illustrated by Lauren Beard: Random House (2016) * ''The Fairytale Hairdresser and the Princess and the Pea'', illustrated by Lauren Beard: Random House (2016) * ''The Fairytale Hairdresser and Aladdin'', illustrated by Lauren Beard: Random House (2017) * ''The Fairytale Hairdresser and the Princess and the Frog'', illustrated by Lauren Beard: Random House (2018) * ''The Fairytale Hairdresser and Thumbelina'', illustrated by Lauren Beard. * ''The Fairytale Hairdresser and Red Riding Hood'', illustrated by Lauren Beard.

Chapter book A chapter book is a story book intended for intermediate readers, generally age 7–10. Unlike picture books for beginning readers, a chapter book tells the story primarily through prose rather than pictures. Unlike books for advanced readers, ...
s

* ''The Magic Potions Shop: The Young Apprentice'', illustrated by Lauren Beard: Random House (2015) * ''The Magic Potions Shop: The River Horse'', illustrated by Lauren Beard: Random House (2015) * ''The Magic Potions Shop: The Blizzard Bear'', illustrated by Lauren Beard: Random House (2016) * ''The Magic Potions Shop: The Lightning Pup'', illustrated by Lauren Beard: Random House (2016) * ''The Magic Potions Shop: The Firebird'', illustrated by Lauren Beard: Random House (2017) * ''The Magic Potions Shop: The Emerald Dragon'', illustrated by Lauren Beard: Random House (2017)

Fiction for older children

* ''The Trapdoor Mysteries: A Sticky Situation'', illustrated by James Brown: Hachette (2016) * ''The Trapdoor Mysteries: The Scent of Danger'', illustrated by James Brown: Hachette (2018) * ''How to Catch a Witch'': Scholastic (2016) * ''How to Bewitch a Wolf'': Scholastic (2017)

Books for schools

* ''The Malice Family'', illustrated by Sholto Walker: Pearson (2011) * ''The Snow Queen'', illustrated by Michael Foreman: HarperCollins (2013) * ''Rumpelstiltskin'', illustrated by Caroline Romanet: HarperCollins (2015) * ''The Wizard of Oz'', illustrated by Louise Pigott: HarperCollins (2015) * ''We Want a Dog!'' Illustrated by Mar Ferrero: OUP (2017) * ''Sometimes Mum is Silly'', illustrated by Natalie Eldred: OUP (2017)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Longstaff, Abie British women writers British children's writers Living people Place of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people) Australian women writers Australian children's writers