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Author Biography
I was born in
Germany and grew up in a small town which was
locally quite famous for its button museum. There was also a lot of
forest nearby, and a very large motorway.
As a baby I liked
books so much that I ate them, and when I found out that there were
people making them I decided to make my own, to taste.
Growing up, I spent a lot of my time
inventing and making things with my family - sculptures, machines,
puppets, theatres, super-8 animations... we'd often go to
museums and find new ideas for things to make, and go straight to the
hardware store to pick up more materials and tools.
I
also wrote and drew adventure stories (my dad typed them up and stapled
them into booklets to send to my aunts and uncles).
After finishing school I considered that more people in the world
read English than German, and that English sentences are on average a
quarter shorter than German ones, and decided that it would be much
preferable to write in English.
So I studied English at University while writing Fantasy stories to
practise (none of them are published, which is probably
a good thing). Eventually I moved to Cornwall, England,
and got an Illustration degree at Falmouth College of Arts. I sold my
first picture book text ("Adventures
of
a
Nose",
Walker
Books)
while I was
still studying, which was surprising and encouraging.
I very much liked living by the sea, and most of my books feature at
least one underwater scene and lots of fish.
But I moved to London anyway.
There I started illustrating as well as writing.
At first I drew fiddly pictures, then I hurt my arm and drew
chunky pictures instead. Now I am better again and do both.
My books have been translated into several languages.
"There
Are Cats in this Book"
is a novelty book
full of cats - and some other things. It's currently on the shortlist
for the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal. And later in 2010 there
will be "There are No Cats in this Book", the sequel.
"Shark
and Lobster's Amazing
Undersea Adventure", was shortlisted
for the V&A illustration Award.
"Timothy
and the Strong
Pyjamas"(a
superhero adventure) was shortlisted for the Booktrust Early Years
Award and the Cambridgeshire Children's Book Award.
I was longlisted for the 2008 Booktrust Big Picture Award for the ten
best illustrators.
Besides working on
some new picture books and novelty books I like to write ghost stories,
and when I've got time to spare I'm working on an epic adventure
series, with maps and languages and all that jazz.
I mostly write in bed in the early morning, before getting up, and
draw during the rest of the day when I'm not out of doors looking at
stuff.
I like to do chaotic needlework and make toys, stuffed
ones mostly.
I keep canaries and other finches and let them fly about the studio
every day. They often try and make nests out of the paintbrushes but
that’s ok.
I can also tap-dance and I have helped out in a few puppet shows, but
mostly I prefer a quiet time, rather.
