Sean Taylor (author)

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Sean Taylor is a British author of children's books. He was born in 1965 and grew up in Surrey, England, he taught in Zimbabwe before studying literature at Cambridge. He currently divides his time between the United Kingdom and Brazil, where his wife is from. [1]

Contents

Career

Taylor has written more than 60 children's books. His best known picture books including When Dinosaurs Walked the Earth (illustrated by Zehra Hicks), Hoot Owl, Master of Disguise (illustrated by Jean Jullien), When a Monster is Born (illustrated by Nick Sharratt), A Brave Bear (illustrated by Emily Hughes), and Huck Runs Amuck! (illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds). [2] [3] [4] He's co-authored three illustrated nature books with ecologist Alex Morss: Winter Sleep, Busy Spring and Funny Bums, Freaky Beaks. [5] He's also written longer fiction, including A Waste of Good Paper - a novel for teenagers set in a Pupil Referral Unit , and a number of first reading books including the Purple Class series.

Taylor's roots are in writing and performing poetry and he has written a trilogy of poetry titles for Walker Books. The first is The Dream Train - Poems for Bedtime (illustrated by Anuska Allepuz) published in 2022. The second is You're a Poet - Ways to Start Writing Poems (illustrated by Sam Usher) published in 2024. The third is the collection of finger rhymes Five Little Friends' (illustrated by Fiona Woodcock).

Among several plays for young audiences written by Sean Taylor are Finding Santa produced in the UK by Little Angel Theatre and (in Portuguese) A Linha Magica and O Sonho do Jeronimo produced in Brazil by A Fabulosa Companhia.

Aside from writing, Sean Taylor has taught on three continents and runs poetry workshops in schools.

Awards

In December 2007, his book When a Monster is Born , illustrated by Nick Sharratt, won a gold medal in the Nestlé Prize for works for children five years old and under. [6] However, he turned down the prize money from the sponsor, Nestlé, because of "questions surrounding Nestlé’s marketing of breast-milk substitutes". [7]

In January 2008, Nestlé withdrew from the 23-year-old sponsorship role of the Booktrust administrated prize for children's writing.

In August 2007 the Dutch edition of When a Monster is Born (Als er een monster is geboren) was awarded with a Pluim van de maand (Feather of the month). [8]

Robot Rumpus, illustrated by Ross Collins, won the Scottish Book Trust Children's Book Awards in 2015. [9]

Hoot Owl, Master of Disguise has been recognised by a number of awards, winning the 2017 Hampshire Picture Book Award and the 2018 Hong Kong Golden Dragon Book Award, and becoming an Honor Book in the 2016 Charlotte Zolotow Award. [10] [11] [12]

In 2017 Where the Bugaboo Lives, an interactive choose your own adventure story illustrated by Neal Layton, won the Hampshire Illustrated Book Award and the Coventry Inspiration Book Award. It is now a Little Angel Theatre production. [13]

In 2024 When Dinosaurs Walked the Earth won Oscar's Book Prize.

Works

Related Research Articles

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References

  1. ↑ "Sean Taylor biography, children's author". Sean Taylor's website. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
  2. ↑ Hoot Owl, Master of Disguise: Corebooks | CLPE
  3. ↑ Bookshelf: Capturing the Magic of Wintertime | The New York Times
  4. ↑ "Huck Runs Amuck! Kirkus Reviews". Kirkus Reviews . Retrieved 1 June 2021.
  5. ↑ "Children's Book Review: Winter Sleep: A Hibernation Story". Publishers Weekly . Retrieved 1 June 2021.
  6. ↑ Nestlé prize goes to nightclub veteran | News | Guardian Unlimited Books
  7. ↑ Boycott Nestlé - protect infants: Sean Taylor, award winning author, refuses Nestle money
  8. ↑ Juryrapport Als er een monster is geboren (Dutch)
  9. ↑ "Winner of Scottish Children's Book Awards Announced". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
  10. ↑ "Hampshire School Library Service News". Wherwell Primary School. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
  11. ↑ "Past winners - Golden Dragon Awards". HK Golden Dragon Awards. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
  12. ↑ "Charlotte Zolotow Award 2016 - InfoSoup". InfoSoup. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
  13. ↑ "Hampshire School Library Service: Illustrated Book of the Year 2017". School Library Service News and Announcements. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
  14. ↑ Crocodiles Are the Best Animals of All! | Sean Taylor | Publishers Weekly
  15. ↑ Huck Runs Amuck! | Sean Taylor | Kirkus Reviews
  16. ↑ Short stories for kids with pictures: The World Champion of Staying Awake| Reading Kingdom Blog
  17. ↑ A Waste of Good Paper - Sean Taylor Stories<
  18. ↑ Hoot Owl, Master of Disguise: Corebooks | CLPE
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