Abie Longstaff | |
|---|---|
 Longstaff being introduced at the Hay Festival in 2017 | |
| Born | Australia |
| Occupation | Author |
| Language | English |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Genre | Children's fiction |
| Notable works | The Fairytale Hairdresser |
| Website | |
| www | |
Abie Longstaff is an Australian-born British [1] author of children's fiction known for The Fairytale Hairdresser picture book series, [2] [3] illustrated by Lauren Beard, as well as books for older children and educational books for schools.
Longstaff was raised in Australia and lived in Hong Kong and France before relocating to England, where she resides today. She lives in Hove. [1] Before becoming a writer Longstaff was a barrister and a legal policy analyst with an interest in policing. [4]
Longstaff appears in the British Library’s current list of the "Top 500 Most Borrowed Authors" at number 192. [5]
Along with illustrator Lauren Beard, she is the winner of the Never Too Young Award [6] for the best book for children under four for The Mummy Shop.
Longstaff was a judge for the Amnesty (Carnegie) CILIP 2018 Commendation which was eventually won by Angie Thomas's The Hate U Give. [7] In 2019 she was elected to the Management Committee of the Society of Authors [8]
The Nickelodeon children's television series Sunny Day , produced by Silvergate Media, [9] is based on Longstaff's The Fairytale Hairdresser books. [10] [11]
Longstaff's fiction incorporates the genre and associated tropes of fairy tales and magic, [12] frequently offset with modern settings and humour. [13]
Her Fairytale Hairdresser books have been described as giving ‘a new spin on a traditional fairy tale’. [14] The Guardian called them considerably more nuanced and subversive than they appear on the surface [15] and they are known for their positive representation of diversity and multiculturalism. [16]
Longstaff's books for older children make use of historical references, [17] and complex literary elements such as footnotes and non-fiction material, alongside characters who are ‘brave and smart and inspirational’. [18]
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.
Magic Tree House is an American children's series written by American author Mary Pope Osborne. The original American series was illustrated by Salvatore Murdocca until 2016, after which AG Ford took over. Other illustrators have been used for foreign-language editions.
Mary Pope Osborne is an American author of children's books and audiobook narrator. She is best known as the author of the Magic Tree House series, which as of 2017 sold more than 134 million copies worldwide. Both the series and Osborne have won awards, including for Osborne's charitable efforts at promoting children's literacy. One of four children, Osborne moved around in her childhood before attending the University of North Carolina. Following college, Osborne traveled before moving to New York City. She somewhat spontaneously began to write, and her first book was published in 1982. She went on to write a variety of other children's and young adult books before starting the Magic Tree House series in 1992. Osborne's sister Natalie Pope Boyce has written several compendium books to the Magic Tree House series, sometimes with Osborne's husband Will.
Philip Reeve is a British author and illustrator of children's books, primarily known for the 2001 book Mortal Engines and its sequels. His 2007 novel, Here Lies Arthur, based on the legendary King Arthur, won the Carnegie Medal.
Ann Philippa Pearce OBE FRSL was an English author of children's books. Best known of them is the time-slip novel Tom's Midnight Garden, which won the 1958 Carnegie Medal from the Library Association, as the year's outstanding children's book by a British subject. Pearce was a commended runner-up for the Medal a further four times.
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.
Laurel Snyder is an American poet and writer of children's books, including novels and picture books. She has also edited a number of literary journals and is a commentator for NPR's All Things Considered.
Jennifer Donnelly is an American writer best known for the young adult historical novel A Northern Light.
Corinne Demas is the award winning author of five novels, two collections of short stories, a collection of poetry, a memoir, two plays, and numerous books for children. She has published more than fifty short stories in a variety of magazines and literary journals. Her publications before 2000 are under the name Corinne Demas Bliss.
Mini Grey is a British illustrator and writer of children's books, especially picture books for young children. She won the annual Kate Greenaway Medal from the professional librarians, recognising the year's best-illustrated children's book published in the UK, for The Adventures of the Dish and the Spoon, published by Jonathan Cape in 2006.
Judith Jones was an American writer and editor, best known for having rescued The Diary of Anne Frank from the reject pile. Jones also championed Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. She retired as senior editor and vice president at Alfred A. Knopf in 2011 and fully retired in 2013 after more than 60 years at the company.
Alice Low was an American author, lyricist, and editor. Over the course of a 60-year career she wrote more than 25 books for children, edited five anthologies, and wrote the book and lyrics for a musical based on one of her books.
Anne Marie Pace is an American author, known for her Vampirina Ballerina books. She attended the College of William & Mary, where she graduated in 1987 with a bachelor's degree in English. Prior to becoming a full-time writer, Pace wrote for children's magazines.
Ruth Paul is a children's picture book author and illustrator from Wellington, New Zealand.
Lauren Wolk is an American author, poet and editor. Born in Baltimore, she studied English literature at Brown University graduating in 1981.
Silvergate Media Limited, operating as Sony Pictures Television – Kids, is a television production and brand licensing company based in New York City and London. The company was founded in 2011 by Waheed Alli, Elizabeth Dampier and William Astor and was acquired by Sony Pictures Television in 2019.
Sunny Day is an animated children's television series produced by Silvergate Media. The series revolves around Sunny, a tween-age hairdresser who runs her own hair salon with the help of her dog Doodle, hair colorist Rox, and receptionist Blair. Sunny's best customers are Timmy, who is in charge of hosting events and shows in Sunny's hometown, and Cindy, the unlucky town chef who has a constant bad hair day. The series is loosely based on the Random House picture book series Fairytale Hairdresser by Abie Longstaff and illustrated by Lauren Beard. Each episode features an original song written by Peter Lurye.
Lauren Beard is a British children's book illustrator best known for illustrating 'The Fairytale Hairdresser' series written by Abie Longstaff, published by Penguin Random House. She is from Manchester, England and graduated from Loughborough University in 2006.
Vasanti Unka is a New Zealand writer, illustrator and graphic designer who has been involved in the book and magazine industry for many years. A number of her books have been shortlisted for awards and she won Best Picture Book and Margaret Mahy Book of the Year Award at the 2014 New Zealand Post Book Awards with The Boring Book. She lives in Auckland, New Zealand.
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