Author, editor, natural history consultant, literacy specialist
The world of children’s publishing continues to be busy, and endlessly fascinating with lots of opportunities for a fact-phile like myself to while away the hours finding out more about the natural world. I often find myself deeply embedded in scientific research papers trying to get to the nitty-gritty core of what, why and how – hours just slip by! I continue to work with major publishers, such as QED Publishing (Quarto), Scholastic and Miles Kelly, and added several others, such as Kingfisher, Templar, Carlton, Weldon Owen and Penguin to my publisher portfolio. In the last two years I’ve enjoyed providing consultancy expertise on a number of encyclopedias, and flexed my more creative muscles as ghost writer to produce a large and successful set of activity books for a celebrity adventurer. I’ve also been able to combine my science and writing skills with my experience of teaching literacy with some new reader books for Ladybird and BBC World. Some of my favourite work has been on dinosaurs – a couple of new and exciting dino books will be revealed in 2019. Thanks to Kingfisher (Macmillan) who gave me free rein to create and write a book about Intelligent Animals – a favourite topic of mine. As always, books about cute animals continue to be popular, particularly in the US, and I’ve written about ‘Kitten Secrets’, ‘Itsy-bitsy Cuties’ and ‘Cutest Babies Ever’ – the picture research for these books is another wonderful way to spend time!
Sitting at my desk, reading the research and answering editors’ queries and advising other authors who don’t have a scientific background are all good way to keep on top of zoological developments, but of course the best method is to get out in the field, and my trips abroad (and hours spent watching what the foxes, bugs and birds are getting up to in my garden!) are an essential part of my work. In the last year, I’ve been lucky enough to get close to a big tarantula as it crossed the road in Mexico, watch humpback whales leap and splash in the icy waters of the Arctic, and crick my neck watching howler monkeys and spider monkeys in trees far above me in the rainforest – after a long, sweaty trek! A particular highlight was watching baby turtles hatching and racing to the sea in Oman, and then swimming alongside endangered hawksbill turtles around the coral reef there. Like Darwin, Leakey and Dian Fossey I’m an empiricist at heart – the best way to learn about the natural world is to sit and watch and think – and then go and read up as much stuff as you can about what you’ve observed.
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