Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was a Russian playwright and short-story writer who is considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career as a playwright produced four classics, and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics. Along with Henrik Ibsen and August Strindberg, Chekhov is often referred to as one of the three seminal figures in the birth of early modernism in the theatre. Chekhov was a physician by profession. "Medicine is my lawful wife", he once said, "and literature is my mistress."
The Carnegie Medal for Writing, established in 1936, is a British literary award that annually recognises one outstanding new English-language book for children or young adults. It is conferred upon the author by the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP), who calls it "the UK's oldest and most prestigious book award for children's writing". CILIP is currently partnered with the audio technology company Yoto in connection with the award.
David McKean is an English artist. His work incorporates drawing, painting, photography, collage, found objects, digital art, and sculpture. McKean has illustrated work by authors such as Neil Gaiman, Grant Morrison, Heston Blumenthal, Ray Bradbury and Stephen King. He has also directed three feature films.
The Guardian Children's Fiction Prize or Guardian Award was a literary award that annual recognised one fiction book written for children or young adults and published in the United Kingdom. It was conferred upon the author of the book by The Guardian newspaper, which established it in 1965 and inaugurated it in 1967. It was a lifetime award in that previous winners were not eligible. At least from 2000 the prize was £1,500. The prize was apparently discontinued after 2016, though no formal announcement appears to have been made.
The Carnegie Medal for Illustration is a British award that annually recognises "distinguished illustration in a book for children". It is conferred upon the illustrator by the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) which inherited it from the Library Association. CILIP is currently partnered with the audio technology company Yoto in connection with the award, though their sponsorship and the removal of Greenaway’s name from the medal proved controversial.
David Almond is a British author who has written many novels for children and young adults from 1998, each one receiving critical acclaim.
The Winter Room is a Newbery Honor-winning short novel by Gary Paulsen. It is a realistic fiction story about logging and farming, narrated in the first person to two boys by their Norwegian uncle in the "winter room" of a farm in northern Minnesota, United States. Like many of his works, it evokes a harsh rural environment using vivid imagery, and has elements of a coming of age tale.
Chris Riddell is a South African-born English illustrator and occasional writer of children's books and a political cartoonist for the Observer. He has won three Kate Greenaway Medals - the British librarians' annual award for the best-illustrated children's book, and two of his works were commended runners-up, a distinction dropped after 2002.
Sally Gardner is a British children writer and illustrator. She won both the Costa Children's Book Award and the Carnegie Medal for Maggot Moon. Under her pseudonym Wray Delaney she has also written adult novels.
Oliver Brendan Jeffers is an Australian-born Northern Irish artist, illustrator and writer. He went to the integrated secondary school Hazelwood College, then graduated from the University of Ulster in 2001. He relocated back to Northern Ireland in the early 2020s after a spell living and working in Brooklyn.
Helen Gillian Oxenbury is an English illustrator and writer of children's picture books. She lives in North London. She has twice won the annual Kate Greenaway Medal, the British librarians' award for illustration and been runner-up four times. For the 50th anniversary of that Medal (1955–2005) her 1999 illustrated edition of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was named one of the top ten winning works.
Emily Gravett is an English author and illustrator of children's picture books. For her debut book Wolves published in 2005 and Little Mouse's Big Book of Fears published three years later, she won the annual Kate Greenaway Medal recognising the year's best-illustrated British children's book.
Jenny Valentine is an English children's novelist. For her first novel and best-known work, Finding Violet Park, she won the annual Guardian Children's Fiction Prize, a once-in-a-lifetime book award judged by a panel of British children's writers. Valentine lives in Glasbury-on-Wye, Wales with her husband singer/songwriter Alex Valentine, with whom she runs a health food shop in nearby Hay-on-Wye.
Patrick Ness FRSL is an American-British author, journalist, lecturer, and screenwriter. Born in the United States, Ness moved to London and holds dual citizenship. He is best known for his books for young adults, including the Chaos Walking trilogy and A Monster Calls.
Lockwood & Co. is a young adult supernatural thriller series written by Jonathan Stroud. The series follows three young operatives of a psychic detection agency as they fight ghosts in London, England.
The Savage is a 2008 graphic novel by David Almond. It is about a boy called Blue who, to cope with his father's death starts drawing and writing a comic book story about a wild boy living in the woods..
My Name Is Mina is a 2010 children's novel by David Almond. It is a prequel to Skellig and is about Mina, a homeschooled girl who lives across the road from the house that Michael's family moves into at the beginning of Skellig. The novel takes the form of a stream of consciousness journal. It is written in a way that shows us Mina's opinions.
The Boy Who Swam with Piranhas is a 2012 book by David Almond. It is about a boy, Stanley, who runs away from home and joins the circus.
Solomon Crocodile is a 2011 picture book by Catherine Rayner. It is about a mischievous crocodile called Solomon who wants to play with various birds and animals but just annoys them until he finally meets another playful crocodile.
The Dragonsitter is a 2012 children novella by Josh Lacey. It is about a young boy, Edward, and the problems he and his family experience while looking after a pet dragon for a week.
