|
 Francesca Simon was born in the United States and studied Medieval Studies, before becoming a journalist.
She began writing children’s books in 1989 after her son Joshua was born. Although she has written over 20 books for the under 8s, the Horrid Henry series are by far the most popular, selling over 10 million copies, with the latest, Horrid Henry and the Abominable Snowman winning the Children’s Book of the Year at the Children’s Book Awards this year.
The idea for Horrid Henry came about when an illustrator friend asked her to write a book about a naughty child, as she was fed up of drawing angelic children! As the eldest of four children, Francesca also wanted to write about the relationships between brothers and sisters, and so she created Perfect Peter. Although she says she adores Peter, Francesca Simon admits that Henry is most people’s favourite; he is the “imp inside everyone” and of course it’s “sometimes great to let that imp out”!
Other characters in the series soon developed, including Moody Margaret, who is a mix of Francesca at that age and how she imagines Margaret Thatcher to have been as a child!
The Horrid Henry books have proved particularly successful at getting boys involved in reading. Francesca Simon supports the School Library Association Boys into Books! Scheme.
Francesca Simon, author of the Horrid Henry books - photograph by Francesco Guidicini
|
 |
