Abi Elphinstone

Last updated

Abi Elphinstone
Abi Elphinstone 20191205.jpg
Elphinstone in 2019
OccupationWriter, novelist, educator
LanguageEnglish
NationalityBritish
Alma mater University of Bristol
Genre Fantasy, children's literature
Years active2015–present
Notable worksSaving Neverland (2023)
Children2

Abi Elphinstone is a British author of children's literature.

Contents

Early life

Elphinstone grew up near Edzell in Angus, Scotland. [1] [2] At St Leonards School, she struggled with dyslexia, and was deemed "unteachable". [1] She is one of four children, two others of whom are also dyslexic. [1]

Despite her challenging grade school upbringing and her condition, she studied English at the University of Bristol, before working as a teacher in Africa, Berkshire, and London. [2] [3]

Career

Her first book was published in 2015,[ which? ] and by March 2020 had sold 225,000 books. [4] Saving Neverland, published in 2023, is a sequel to J. M. Barrie's Peter and Wendy (1911), the novel that gave rise to the Peter Pan franchise. Set in the present day, it features ten year old Martha Penydrop and her seven-year-old brother, Scruff. Elphinstone has imagined her own Neverland but retained some of the creatures from Barrie's classic story. [5]

Personal life

Elphinstone is married to Edo, who works in finance, and they have two children. [6]

Publications

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Captain Hook</span> Fictional character

Captain James Hook is the main antagonist of J. M. Barrie's 1904 play Peter Pan; or, the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up and its various adaptations, in which he is Peter Pan's archenemy. The character is a pirate captain of the brig Jolly Roger. His two principal fears are the sight of his own blood and the crocodile who pursues him after having previously eaten Captain Hook's hand cut off by Pan. An iron hook that replaced his severed hand has given the pirate his name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">J. M. Barrie</span> British novelist and playwright (1860–1937)

Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet, was a Scottish novelist and playwright, best remembered as the creator of Peter Pan. He was born and educated in Scotland and then moved to London, where he wrote several successful novels and plays. There he met the Llewelyn Davies boys, who inspired him to write about a baby boy who has magical adventures in Kensington Gardens, then to write Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up, a 1904 West End "fairy play" about an ageless boy and an ordinary girl named Wendy who have adventures in the fantasy setting of Neverland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neverland</span> Fictional island in Peter Pan and other works of J. M. Barrie

Neverland is a fictional island featured in the works of J. M. Barrie and those based on them. It is an imaginary faraway place where Peter Pan, Tinker Bell, Captain Hook, the Lost Boys, and some other imaginary beings and creatures live.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tinker Bell</span> Fictional character created by J. M. Barrie

Tinker Bell is a fictional character from J. M. Barrie's 1904 play Peter Pan and its 1911 novelisation Peter and Wendy. She has appeared in a variety of film and television adaptations of the Peter Pan stories, in particular the 1953 animated Walt Disney picture Peter Pan. She also appears in the official 2006 sequel Peter Pan in Scarlet by Geraldine McCaughrean commissioned by Great Ormond Street Hospital as well as the "Peter and the Starcatchers" book series by Ridley Pearson and Dave Barry.

Amanda Barrie is an English actress. She appeared in two of the Carry On films before being cast as Alma Halliwell in ITV soap opera, Coronation Street, which she played on and off for 20 years. Between 2003 and 2006, she played the role of Bev Tull in the ITV prison drama, Bad Girls. She has since enjoyed a varied stage and television career.

<i>Peter Pan</i> (2003 film) 2003 American film directed by P. J. Hogan

Peter Pan is a 2003 fantasy adventure film directed by P. J. Hogan and written by Hogan and Michael Goldenberg. The screenplay is based on the 1904 play and 1911 novel Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up by J.M. Barrie. Jason Isaacs plays the dual roles of Captain Hook and George Darling, Olivia Williams plays Mary Darling, while Jeremy Sumpter plays Peter Pan, Rachel Hurd-Wood plays Wendy Darling, and Ludivine Sagnier plays Tinker Bell. Lynn Redgrave plays a supporting role as Aunt Millicent, a new character created for the film.

<i>Peter Pan</i> (1953 film) 1953 animated Disney film

Peter Pan is a 1953 American animated adventure fantasy film produced in 1952 by Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures. Based on J. M. Barrie's 1904 play Peter Pan, or the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up, the film was directed by Hamilton Luske, Clyde Geronimi, and Wilfred Jackson. Featuring the voices of Bobby Driscoll, Kathryn Beaumont, Hans Conried, Bill Thompson, Heather Angel, Paul Collins, Tommy Luske, Candy Candido, Tom Conway, Roland Dupreee and Don Barclay, the film's plot follows Wendy Darling and her two brothers, who meet the never-growing-up Peter Pan and travel with him to the island of Never Land to stay young, where they also have to face Peter's archenemy, Captain Hook.

<i>Finding Neverland</i> (film) 2004 historical fantasy drama film by Marc Forster

Finding Neverland is a 2004 biographical film directed by Marc Forster and written by David Magee, based on the 1998 play The Man Who Was Peter Pan by Allan Knee. The film stars Johnny Depp, Kate Winslet, Julie Christie, Radha Mitchell, and Dustin Hoffman, with Freddie Highmore in a supporting role.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geraldine McCaughrean</span> British childrens novelist (born 1951)

Geraldine McCaughrean is a British children's novelist. She has written more than 170 books, including Peter Pan in Scarlet (2004), the official sequel to Peter Pan commissioned by Great Ormond Street Hospital, the holder of Peter Pan's copyright. Her work has been translated into 44 languages worldwide. She has received the Carnegie Medal twice and the Michael L. Printz Award among others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sally Magnusson</span> Scottish broadcaster and writer

Sally Anne Stone, known professionally as Sally Magnusson, is a Scottish broadcast journalist, television presenter and writer, who currently presents the Thursday and Friday night edition of BBC Scotland's Reporting Scotland. She also presents Tracing Your Roots on BBC Radio 4 and was one of the main presenters of the long-running religious television programme Songs of Praise.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wendy Darling</span> Character created by J.M. Barrie

Wendy Moira Angela Darling is a fictional character and one of the main protagonists of the 1904 play and 1911 novel Peter and Wendy by J. M. Barrie, as well as in most adaptations in other media. Her exact age is not specified in the original play or novel by Barrie, though it is implied that she is about Peter's age as she is "just Peter's size".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Pan</span> Character created by James Matthew Barrie

Peter Pan is a fictional character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood having adventures on the mythical island of Neverland as the leader of the Lost Boys, interacting with fairies, pirates, mermaids, Native Americans, and occasionally ordinary children from the world outside Neverland.

Tiger Lily (<i>Peter Pan</i>) Fictional character

Tiger Lily is a fictional character in J. M. Barrie's 1904 play Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up, his 1911 novel Peter and Wendy, and their various adaptations.

<i>Peter and Wendy</i> Book and play by J. M. Barrie

Peter Pan; or, the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up, often known simply as Peter Pan, is a work by J. M. Barrie, in the form of a 1904 play and a 1911 novel titled Peter and Wendy, often extended as Peter Pan and Wendy. Both versions tell the story of Peter Pan, a mischievous little boy who can fly, and has many adventures on the island of Neverland that is inhabited by mermaids, fairies, Native Americans, and pirates. The Peter Pan stories also involve the characters Wendy Darling and her two brothers John and Michael, Peter's fairy Tinker Bell, the Lost Boys, and the pirate Captain Hook. The play and novel were inspired by Barrie's friendship with the Llewelyn Davies family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cressida Cowell</span> British writer

Cressida Cowell FRSL is a British children's author, popularly known for the book series, How to Train Your Dragon, which has subsequently become an award-winning film franchise as adapted by DreamWorks Animation. As of 2015, the series has sold more than seven million copies around the world.

<i>Finding Neverland</i> (musical) Musical by Gary Barlow and Eliot Kennedy

Finding Neverland is a musical with music and lyrics by Gary Barlow and Eliot Kennedy and a book by James Graham adapted from the 1998 play The Man Who Was Peter Pan by Allan Knee and its 2004 film version Finding Neverland. An early version of the musical made its world premiere at the Curve Theatre in Leicester in 2012 with a book by Allan Knee, music by Scott Frankel and lyrics by Michael Korie. A reworked version with the current writing team made its world premiere in 2014 at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Following completion of its Cambridge run, the production transferred to Broadway in March 2015.

Sally Green is a British fantasy author. Her work includes the Half Bad trilogy, related short stories, and The Smoke Thieves trilogy. The Half Bad trilogy was adapted into the Netflix series The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself.

<i>Peter Pan & Wendy</i> 2023 film by David Lowery

Peter Pan & Wendy is a 2023 American fantasy adventure film directed by David Lowery from a screenplay he co-wrote with Toby Halbrooks. Jim Whitaker served as producer on the Walt Disney Pictures and Whitaker Entertainment production, based on the 1904 play of the same name by J. M. Barrie and a live action adaptation to Walt Disney's 1953 film Peter Pan. The film stars Alexander Molony and Ever Anderson in the title roles. Jude Law, Yara Shahidi, Alyssa Wapanatâhk, Joshua Pickering, Jacobi Jupe and Jim Gaffigan also appear in supporting roles. The story follows Peter Pan and Wendy, who go to the magical world of Neverland with Wendy's brothers and Peter's best friend Tinker Bell. Along the way, Wendy embarks on the adventure that will change her life and encounters Peter's archenemy Captain Hook.

Beth Alice O'Leary is an English author of romantic comedy novels. Her first novel The Flatshare (2019), sold over a million copies and was nominated for a Comedy Women in Print Prize. Since then she has published four more books, namely: The Switch, The Road Trip, The No-Show and The Wake-Up Call; with her upcoming sixth novel, Swept Away, set to be published in Spring 2025.

References

  1. 1 2 3 McDonald, Sally (28 March 2019). "How a little girl branded unteachable at school grew up to become a children's best-seller". The Sunday Post. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  2. 1 2 "Abi Elphinstone". Simon & Schuster. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  3. "Q&A with children's author Abi Elphinstone". www.primarytimes.co.uk.
  4. Tivnan, Tom (30 March 2020). "&S inks new three-book Elphinstone deal". The Bookseller. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  5. "An interview with Abi Elphinstone". Just Imagine. 5 March 2023. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
  6. McDonald, Sally (21 June 2021). "Author Abi Elphinstone: I wrote to lift readers out of pandemic gloom... and make kids giggle". The Sunday Post. Retrieved 29 November 2022.