Child, Lauren 1965–

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Child, Lauren 1965–

PERSONAL:

Born November 29, 1965, in Berkshire, England; father an artist and art teacher, mother an infant and primary teacher. Education: Attended Manchester Polytechnic, 1985-86; studied decorative arts with City and Guilds London, 1987-88. Hobbies and other interests: Movies, dolls' houses, traveling.

ADDRESSES:

Home—London, England. Agent—Caroline Walsh, David Higham Associates, 5-8 Lower John St., Golden Square, London, England W1F 9HA.

CAREER:

Writer and illustrator. Worked variously as a waitress and painter; Chandeliers for the People (lampshade designers), founder; also worked for creative agency Big Fish. Designer of window displays and china dinnerware. Exhibitions: Work selected by Quentin Blake for British Library's Magic Pencil Touring Exhibition, 2002.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Bronze Award, Smarties Book Prize, Norfolk Children's Book Award, and Kate Greenaway Medal Highly Commended designation, all 1999, all for Clarice Bean, That's Me!; Kate Greenaway Medal, Norfolk Children's Book Award, and Children's British Book Award shortlist, all 2000, all for I Will Not Ever Never Eat a Tomato; British Children's Book Award shortlist, 2001, for I Am Not Sleepy and I Will Not Go to Bed; Smarties Bronze Award, and Kids' Club Network award, both 2001, both for What Planet Are You from, Clarice Bean?; Smarties Gold Award, Kids Club Network Award, and Kate Greenaway Medal Highly Commended designation, all 2002, all for ThatPesky Rat; Children's British Book Award shortlist, 2003, for I Am Too Absolutely Small for School; Children's British Book Award shortlist, 2006, for Clarice Bean Spells Trouble.

WRITINGS:

FOR CHILDREN; SELF-ILLUSTRATED

I Want a Pet!, Tricycle Press (Berkeley, CA), 1999.

Beware of the Storybook Wolves, Hodder (London, England), 2000, Arthur A. Levine (New York, NY), 2001.

My Dream Bed, Hodder (London, England), 2001.

That Pesky Rat, Candlewick Press (Cambridge, MA), 2002.

Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Book?, Hodder (London, England), 2002, Hyperion (New York, NY), 2003.

Hubert Horatio Bartle Bobton-Trent, Hyperion (New York, NY), 2005.

The Princess and the Pea: In Miniature (based on the story by Hans Christian Andersen), photography by Polly Borland, Puffin (London, England), 2005, Hyperion (New York, NY), 2006.

"CLARICE BEAN" SERIES; FOR CHILDREN; SELF-ILLUSTRATED

Clarice Bean, That's Me! (picture book), Candlewick Press (Cambridge, MA), 1999.

My Uncle Is a Hunkle, Says Clarice Bean (picture book), Orchard Books (London, England), 2000, published as Clarice Bean, Guess Who's Babysitting?, Candlewick Press (Cambridge, MA), 2001.

What Planet Are You from, Clarice Bean? (picture book), Orchard Books (London, England), 2001, Candlewick Press (Cambridge, MA), 2002.

Utterly Me, Clarice Bean (chapter book), Orchard Books (London, England), 2002, Candlewick Press (Cambridge, MA), 2003.

Clarice Bean Spells Trouble (chapter book), Orchard Books (London, England), 2004.

Clarice Bean, Don't Look Now (chapter book), Orchard Books (London, England), 2006.

"CHARLIE AND LOLA" SERIES; SELF-ILLUSTRATED

I Will Never Not Ever Eat a Tomato, Candlewick Press (Cambridge, MA), 2000, published as I Will Not Ever Never Eat a Tomato, Orchard Books (London, England), 2000.

I Am Not Sleepy and I Will Not Go to Bed, Candlewick Press (Cambridge, MA), 2001.

I Am Too Absolutely Small for School, Orchard Books (London, England), 2003, Candlewick Press (Cambridge, MA), 2004.

But, Excuse Me, That Is My Book, Dial (New York, NY), 2005.

I've Won, No I've Won, No I've Won, Dial (New York, NY), 2005.

We Honestly Can Look after Your Dog, Dial (New York, NY), 2006.

Snow Is My Favorite and My Best, Dial (New York, NY), 2006.

My Wobbly Tooth Must Not Ever Never Fall Out, Grosset & Dunlap (New York, NY), 2006.

Whoops! But It Wasn't Me, Puffin (London, England), 2006.

Say Cheese!, Dial (New York, NY), 2007.

This Is Actually My Party, Grosset & Dunlap (New York, NY), 2007.

I'm Really Ever So Not Well, Grosset & Dunlap (New York, NY), 2007.

Charlie and Lola's Opposites (board book), Candlewick Press (Cambridge, MA), 2007.

Charlie and Lola's Numbers (board book), Candlewick Press (Cambridge, MA), 2007.

Charlie and Lola's Colours (board book), Walker Books (London, England), 2007.

Charlie and Lola's Things (board book), Walker Books (London, England), 2007.

Boo! Made You Jump!, Grosset & Dunlap (New York, NY), 2007.

Also author and animator of Charlie and Lola television series, produced by Tiger Aspect and airing on the CBBC, beginning 2005.

ILLUSTRATOR:

Margaret Joy, Addy the Baddy, Viking (London, England), 1993.

The Complete Poetical Works of Phoebe Flood, introduction by John Whitworth, Hodder & Stoughton (London, England), 1997.

Alexander Sturgis, Dan's Angel, Frances Lincoln (London, England), 2002.

Elmore Leonard, A Coyote's in the House, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2004.

Astrid Lindgren, Pippi Longstocking, translated by Tina Nunnally, Viking (New York, NY), 2007.

Illustrations included in: Adrian Mitchell, selector, A Poem a Day, Orchard Books (London, 2001; and Roald Dahl, Songs and Verses, Jonathan Cape (London, England), 2005.

ILLUSTRATOR; "DEFINITELY DAISY" SERIES

Jenny Oldfield, You're a Disgrace, Daisy, Hodder Children's (London, England), 2001.

Jenny Oldfield, I'd Like a Little Word, Leonie!, Hodder Children's (London, England), 2001.

Jenny Oldfield, Just You Wait, Minona, Hodder Children's (London, England), 2001.

Jenny Oldfield, Dream on, Daisy!, Hodder Children's (London, England), 2001.

ADAPTATIONS:

Characters from Child's "Charlie and Lola" series have been adapted into picture-book spin-offs such as I Absolutely Must Do Coloring Now, based on television scripts written by others. The Charlie and Lola television series was packaged for DVD and released by BBC/Warner, 2005.

SIDELIGHTS:

Fans of the "Clarice Bean" book series and the popular Charlie and Lola television series will likely count British writer illustrator Lauren Child among their favorite children's book authors. Child's first book for children won the 1999 Smarties Bronze award, the first of many honors she has received. In 2001 I Will Not Ever Never Eat a Tomato, the first installment in her "Charlie and Lola" picture-book series, won the prestigious Kate Greenaway Medal for illustration. In her series works, as well as standalone titles such as That Pesky Rat, Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Book?, and The Princess and the Pea: In Miniature, Child shares her whimsical, lighthearted view of childhood with young readers. Praising Child's "droll, mixed-media collage art" in Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Book?, a Publishers Weekly contributor dubbed the "snappy" story about a boy whose dreams pull him into a world full of storybook characters "a pleasantly warped, kid-pleasing romp." Featuring intricate, theatrically inspired 3-D collage illustrations, Child's dollhouse version of Hans Christian Andersen's classic fairy tale "The Princess and the Pea" also attracted critical acclaim. While Booklist reviewer Hazel Rochman deemed the work an "exuberant fractured version" of the childhood classic, a Publishers Weekly reviewer cited the author/illustrator's "personable voice, signature sloe-eyed characters and … savvy blend of script and italics." In School Library Journal Kirsten Cutler predicted that Child's "fabulously funny" fairy-tale adaptation "will delight the whole family" due to its "wonderful details" and droll retelling.

Born in 1967 as the second of three sisters, Child grew up in Wiltshire, England. Because her parents were both teachers, Child was raised in a creative environment, and her talent for art encouraged by her art-teacher father. In her late teens she attended City and Guilds Art School, but left after a year. Rather than continuing art school, Child opted for the working world. Among the jobs she held before beginning her career as a children's book author and illustrator was serving as assistant to artist Damien Hirst and starting her own company making custom lamp shades. Moving to illustration, she wrote her first original picture book, Clarice Bean, That's Me, in the early 1990s, but it took several years to find a publisher. By the time young readers were introduced to Child's spunky young heroine in 1999, Child had already gained praise for two illustration projects—including her art for Margaret Joy's Addy the Baddy—and her success in children's publishing was assured.

Clarice Bean, an irrepressible five year old, lives in a wildly madcap family. The character was created during the author's trip to New York City, and a photograph Child took of a Manhattan garden during that trip appears in one of the collage illustrations in the book. In his London Telegraph review of Clarice Bean, That's Me, Marcus Crouch described Child's text as "a stream of consciousness of one-liners, pranks and paraphrases of the nonsense spouted by grown-ups." Each book in the series finds Clarice in a gentle predicament that children can relate to. In Clarice Bean, Guess Who's Babysitting?, for example, firefighter Uncle Ted is the only one who will agree to baby sit Clarice, her siblings, and their grandfather when Clarice's parents go out of town. Ted is the children's favorite uncle because he is just as full of energy as they are. However, things spiral out of control when a pet guinea pig escapes from its cage and Ted and the children must track it down. "Child brilliantly captures the magic" of Clarice's relationship with her doting Uncle Ted, Kelly Milner Halls wrote in Booklist, and School Library Journal critic Gay Lynn Van Vleck called Clarice Bean, Guess Who's Babysitting? an "uproarious romp" filled with "offbeat humor and illustrative invention."

Clarice returns in What Planet Are You from, Clarice Bean? as the young girl joins an environmental protest over the cutting down of a neighborhood tree even though she is a bit unsure what the problem really is. A critic for Kirkus Reviews called the story "wackily over the top," while in Booklist Gillian Engberg praised Child's "irresistible, quirky humor" and the "sly references to adult clichés" that she inserts in her text. Carol L. MacKay, in a review for School Library Journal, wrote that "Clarice has a voice that children will identify with and delight in."

As the "Clarice Bean" series has continued, Child's young heroine has grown up along with her loyal fans, and more recent volumes take the girl from the picturebook to chapter-book format. Enthralled by a Nancy Drew-type mystery series in Utterly Me, Clarice Bean, Child's spunky heroine tries to solve a mystery at her school—the theft of a trophy she was hoping to win—as well as get to the bottom of the seeming disappearance of her friend Betty. According to Kay Weisman in Booklist, Child's story is "delivered in deadpan, forthright prose" and "perfectly captures a child's voice in a way that will illicit laughter even from the grumpy." A critic for Kirkus Reviews wrote that "Child not only gives Clarice a distinctive preteen voice, but captures the chaos around her with plenty of sketchy, interspersed ink drawings and collages."

A school production of The Sound of Music combines with worries over an upcoming spelling bee in Clarice Bean Spells Trouble. When a friend's difficult home life, a school suspension, and her desire to impress a teacher add to Clarice's challenges, the preteen decides to confront her tasks by adopting the mindset of her favorite television detective, Ruby Redfort. Clarice Bean Spells Trouble features "fresh, childlike turns of phrase," "childlike" cartoon drawings, and Child's characteristic humorous—and literal—approach to vocabulary, according to Carolyn Phelan in Booklist, the critic dubbing the chapter book an "entertaining" choice for the mid-elementary grades. "Child kicks Clarice Bean's already vivacious narrative up a notch," a Kirkus Reviews contributor concluded, calling the irrepressible Clarice an "‘exceptionordinary’ entertaining middle-grader."

After her "Clarice Bean" book series moved from picture books to chapter book, Child found a new outlet for her large-format art in her "Charlie and Lola" series, which includes both an animated television series and picture books for the toddler set. In the pages of such books as I Will Never Not Ever Eat a Tomato, I Am Too Absolutely Small for School, Snow Is My Favorite and My Best, and This Is Actually My Party, the author and illustrator crystallizes telling interactions between big brother Charlie and irrepressible little sister Lola, all illustrated using stills from the television series. The joy of playing in the first winter snowfall is the focus of Snow Is My Favorite and My Best, although Lola's spirit is crushed when the snow quickly melts away. In big-brotherly fashion, Charlie explains to the disappointed girl what would be lost if it was always cold enough for snow and then consoles Lola with a tiny snowman he has crafted to inhabit the miniature snowy world in the family's freezer. I Am Too Absolutely Small for School addresses Lola's nervousness at heading off to the first day of school, while But Excuse Me That Is My Book finds Lola understandably frustrated when the only book at the library that she really, really needs to read has been somehow checked out by another child when it should have remained there just for her.

Lola's opinionated and determined attitude and Charlie's ability to gently wooing her onto the better path through his child's eye view of the world have made the "Charlie and Lola" books extremely popular with both parents and children. Another factor may be the lack of any adult presence in the storylines, a characteristic that allows each story to truly reflect a child's viewpoint. "The author does an excellent job of capturing the way youngsters think and act," noted Kristen M. Todd in her School Library Journal review of But Excuse Me That Is My Book, and "the collage artwork is charming." "Parents will certainly appreciate the siblings' tender, supportive relationship," predicted Jennifer Mattson in a Booklist review of I Am Too Absolutely Small for School, while in Kirkus Reviews a critic noted that Child's "effervescent" mixed-media illustrations "match … the lively, real-sounding repartee" of the two children. "Child's perfectly captured children's voices, vividly realized characters and appealing collage style" bring to life Snow Is My Favorite and My Best, according to another Kirkus Reviews writer. Focusing on Child's illustrations, Ilene Cooper wrote in Booklist that "Lola's exuberance is made manifest" through the energetic combination of "simply shaped, almost scrawled" drawings and "jelly-bean-bright backgrounds."

While Child has continued to find success as an author/illustrator, she occasionally creates art for texts by other writers. One noted example is her work for a new addition of Astrid Lindgren's childhood classic Pippi Longstocking. First published in 1945, Pippi Longstocking has been translated into numerous languages and beloved by generations of readers, including Child, who discovered Pippi's adventures at age eight. Other books illustrated by Child include the "Definitely Daisy" books by Jenny Oldfield, as well as Alexander Sturgis's Dan's Angel and crime novelist Elmore Leonard's quirky picture-book debut, A Coyote's in the House.

Child once noted: "After growing up in the small market town of Marlborough, Wiltshire, as the middle child of three sisters and the daughter of two teachers, I have always been interested in the many aspects of childhood, from gazing into toy shop windows to watching American children's television shows and movies from the 1960s and 1970s. I still spend a lot of time looking in toy shops and have a large collection of children's books.

"After attending two art schools, where I admit that I did not learn much, I traveled for six months, still unsure about which career to embark upon. I have lived in many parts of London. I enjoy moving; it freshens me up. I am longing to go and live abroad for a while, but I'm not sure where.

"During the following years I did various things. I love designing and making things, and I find it incredibly exciting to see my drawings turned into objects. I didn't expect to be much good at writing and really started by accident. It was only when I came to write and illustrate Clarice Bean, That's Me that I decided to devote my time to writing and illustrating books for children. It combines my fascination for childhood and my talent for designing and creating."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, April 15, 1999, review of I Want a Pet!, p. 1534; February 1, 2001, review of Beware of the Storybook Wolves, p. 1050; May 1, 2001, Kelly Milner Halls, review of Clarice Bean, Guess Who's Babysitting?, p. 1688; August, 2001, Gillian Engberg, review of I Am Not Sleepy and I Will Not Go to Bed, p. 2127; April 15, 2002, Gillian Engberg, review of What Planet Are You from, Clarice Bean?, p. 1406; September 1, 2002, Michael Cart, review of That Pesky Rat, p. 120; September 15, 2003, Kay Weisman, review of Utterly Me, Clarice Bean, p. 235; January 1, 2004, Jennifer Mattson, review of Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Book?, p. 872; October 1, 2004, Jennifer Mattson, review of I Am Too Absolutely Small for School, p. 332; April 15, 2005, Jennifer Mattson, review of Hubert Horatio Bartle Bobton-Trent, p. 1459; September 1, 2005, Carolyn Phelan, review of Clarice Bean Spells Trouble, p. 131; February 15, 2006, Hazel Rochman, review of The Princess and the Pea: In Miniature, p. 99; April 1, 2006, Ilene Cooper, review of But Excuse Me That Is My Book, p. 47; September 15, 2006, Ilene Cooper, review of Snow Is My Favorite and My Best, p. 60.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, April, 2001, review of Clarice Bean, Guess Who's Babysitting?, p. 298; March, 2002, review of What Planet Are You from, Clarice Bean?, p. 236; November, 2003, Janice Del Negro, review of Utterly Me, Clarice Bean, p. 96; January, 2004, Janice Del Negro, review of Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Book?, p. 183; September, 2004, Timnah Card, review of I Am Too Absolutely Small for School, p. 10; April, 2006, Karen Coats, review of But Excuse Me That Is My Book, p. 346; December, 2006, Karen Coats, review of Snow Is My Favorite and My Best, p. 164.

Financial Times, November 24, 2001, Lauren Child, "Best of the Year: Top Children's Authors Share Their Favorites," p. 6.

Horn Book, May, 1999, review of I Want a Pet!, p. 312; November-December, 2003, "Kate Greenaway Medal," p. 787.

Instructor, September, 2001, Judy Freeman, review of Beware of the Storybook Wolves, p. 26.

Kirkus Reviews, August 1, 2001, review of I Am Not Sleepy and I Will Not Go to Bed, p. 1119; February 1, 2002, review of What Planet Are You from, Clarice Bean?, p. 177; July 1, 2002, review of That Pesky Rat, p. 950; September 15, 2003, review of Utterly Me, Clarice Bean, p. 1172; October 1, 2003, review of Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Book?, p. 1221; July 1, 2004, review of I Am Too Absolutely Small for School, p. 626; April 15, 2005, review of Hubert Horatio Bartle Bobton-Trent, p. 470; July 15, 2005, review of Clarice Bean Spells Trouble, p. 787; December 1, 2005, review of But Excuse Me That Is My Book, p. 1272; March 15, 2006, review of The Princess and the Pea, p. 287; September 1, 2006, review of Snow Is My Favorite and My Best, p. 901.

Publishers Weekly, February 15, 1999, review of I Want a Pet!, p. 106; August 30, 1999, review of Clarice Bean, That's Me!, p. 83; April 30, 2001, review of Beware of the Storybook Wolves, p. 77; August 27, 2002, review of I Am Not Sleepy and I Will Not Go to Bed, p. 84; September 15, 2003, reviews of Utterly Me, Clarice Bean, p. 65, and I Will Never Not Ever Eat a Tomato, p. 67; November 24, 2003, review of Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Book?, p. 63; April 17, 2006, review of The Princess and the Pea, p. 187.

School Librarian, summer, 2005, Teresa Scragg, review of Hubert Horatio Bartle Bobton-Trent, p. 79; spring, 2007, Lynda Waterhouse, review of Clarice Bean, Don't Look Now, p. 23.

School Library Journal, May, 1999, Lisa Dennis, review of I Want a Pet!, p. 88; December, 1999, Maryann H. Owen, review of Clarice Bean, That's Me!, p. 88; March, 2001, review of Clarice Bean, Guess Who's Babysitting?, p. 195; June, 2001, Catherine T. Quattlebaum, review of Beware of the Storybook Wolves, p. 111; September, 2001, Olga R. Kuahrets, review of I Am Not Sleepy and I Will Not Go to Bed, p. 184; March, 2002, Carol L. MacKay, review of What Planet Are You from, Clarice Bean?, p. 173; August, 2002, Dona Ratterree, review of That Pesky Rat, p. 148; November, 2003, JoAnn Jonas, review of Utterly Me, Clarice Bean, p. 90; December, 2003, Shelley B. Sutherland, review of Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Book?, p. 111; August, 2004, Grace Oliff, review of I Am Too Absolutely Small for School, p. 84; August, 2005, Amanda Rose Conover, review of Clarice Bean Spells Trouble, p. 86; March, 2006, Kirsten Cutler, review of The Princess and the Pea, p. 185; April, 2006, Kristen M. Todd, review of But Excuse Me That Is My Book, p. 98; November, 2006, Martha Simpson, review of Snow Is My Favorite and My Best, p. 86.

Telegraph (London, England), December 28, 2003, Marcus Warren, "A Writer's Life: Lauren Child"; June 17, 2007, Bee Wilson, "Child's Play" (profile), p. 16.