Lauren Child - Life

Life

Helen Child was born in 1965, the middle child of three daughters. She later changed her first name to Lauren. She attended St John's School and from 16, Marlborough College, where her father was Head of Art. She studied Art briefly at Manchester Polytechnic and later at City and Guilds of London Art School, after which she worked in a variety of jobs, including as a painting assistant to Damien Hirst. She also started her own company, Chandeliers for the People, making exotic lampshades together with the actor Andrew St Clair; it was not a commercial success, though the lampshades are instantly recognisable as Child's work and highly valued. Between 1998 and 2003 she worked for the design agency Big Fish.

Two picture books both written and illustrated by Child were published in 1999, and also issued in the U.S. within the year: I Want a Pet! and Clarice Bean, That's Me. The latter, published by Orchard Books, inaugurated the Clarice Bean series, was a highly commended runner up for the Greenaway Medal, and made the Nestlé Smarties Book Prize shortlist. Next year she won the Greenaway Medal the first Charlie and Lola book, I Will Not Ever, NEVER Eat a Tomato. Her timing was good, for a bequest by Colin Mears had provided a £5000 cash prize to supplement the medal beginning that year. She won a second Smarties Prize in 2002 for That Pesky Rat, which was commended for the Greenaway too. In the same year she wrote her first children's novel, Utterly Me, Clarice Bean, one of 39 books nominated by the librarians for the Carnegie Medal in Literature. Her second novel in this series, Clarice Bean Spells Trouble was shortlisted for the 2005 British Book Awards Children's Book of the Year. The third novel, Clarice Bean, Don't Look Now was published in 2006.

Child's humorous illustrations contain many different media including magazine cuttings, collage, material and photography as well as traditional watercolours. As well as being author of several highly successful books, she is the illustrator of the Definitely Daisy series by Jenny Oldfield.

A television series based on her Charlie and Lola books was made by Tiger Aspect for Disney/Cbeebies, on which Child was an Associate Producer. Three series of 26 episodes were made and two specials. A number of spin off books are available based on the scripts of the TV shows, though these were not written or illustrated by Child. Charlie and Lola has been sold throughout the world, and has won many prizes, including BAFTAs in 2007 for Best children's Television Show and Best Script.