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Lara Kate Jones (1975 – 26 March 2010) was a British artist, children's author and
illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicate ...
. She is best remembered for her '' Poppy Cat'' series of children's books, which have been published in 20 languages and sold more than two and a half million copies. In 2012, a major award was set up in her name by Macmillan Children's books, called The Lara Jones Illustration Award, with a prize of £500 for the best illustration for a children's book by a new illustrator. So far there have been four winners.


Early life

Lara Kate Jones was born in
Ashby-de-la-Zouch Ashby-de-la-Zouch (), also spelled Ashby de la Zouch, is a market town and civil parish in the North West Leicestershire district of Leicestershire, England, near to the Derbyshire and Staffordshire borders. Its population at the 2021 census was ...
, Leicestershire, England, and spent her childhood in
Shropshire Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...
. Both of her parents were writers. Her father was Ivan Jones the best-selling fiction writer and poet, and her mother Mal Lewis Jones was also a children's writer. Lara was the first born of their three children, her siblings being Levin, a professional violinist, and Jessica, an artist, poet and singer songwriter. Lara studied art at Canterbury College of Art and then at
Cheltenham College Cheltenham College is a public school ( fee-charging boarding and day school for pupils aged 13–18) in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. The school opened in 1841 as a Church of England foundation and is known for its outstanding linguis ...
, going on to work at the
Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...
and the Inkshed artists' agency before becoming a full-time writer and illustrator.


As a writer

She published many books, but is best remembered for her '' Poppy Cat'' series, which are published by Macmillan/Campbell Books. These books, for the very young, have sold in 20 languages and nearly two million copies. They are published in Brazil, Spain, France, Italy, Mexico, Finland, Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands and Japan, as well as other countries. To date, there have been two major television animated series of 52 episodes each and were produced by Nick Jr. and
BAFTA The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...
award-winning King Rollo Films. The 104 episodes are shown all over the world including America and Great Britain. Jones was awarded the 2004 Sheffield Baby Book prize (bronze) and then a Booktrust Early Years Award for ''Poppy Cat's Farm'' in 2005. ''Poppy Cat Hug'' won the Bronze Award at the Right Start Best Toy Award 2006. ''Swap the Scene Poppy Cat'' was a Bronze Award winner of the Practical Parenting Award 2006. ''Good Night, Poppy Cat'' was acclaimed as one of the best 10 books for the under-fives in ''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'', by Boyd Tonkin. The recently published ''Poppy Cat's First Word Book'' has been highly praised by pre-school magazine for containing more than 50 words that toddlers can learn. Jones illustrated numerous other books, including her own picture books, ''I Love Hugs'' and ''I Love My Potty''. Other books illustrated by Jones include ''Mermaid Poems'' (Clare Bevan), ''Mermaid Stories'', ''Fairy Poems'' and ''Fairy Stories'' (all published by MacMillan), as well as ''Babies Can'' by Ian Whybrow and ''Pip and the Edge of Heaven'' by Elizabeth Liddle (Lion, 2002). Her final book was ''I Want a Mini Tiger'', written by Joyce Dunbar and published by Macmillan Books. Jones also had other projects in the pipeline, notably a book with Orchard Books, for which she had done initial drawings.


Personal life

While at college, Jones met fellow artist Shaun Clarke, whom she married in 2003; they had two children. On 26 March 2010, she died at the age of 34 from malignant melanoma.


References


External links


Poppy Cat Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Lara 1975 births 2010 deaths Alumni of the University for the Creative Arts Artists from Leicestershire Artists from Shropshire English women artists English women children's writers Deaths from melanoma in the United Kingdom People educated at Cheltenham College People from Ashby-de-la-Zouch Writers from Leicestershire Writers from Shropshire