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ENTRY TYPE:
WORK TITLE: King Alfred and the Ice Coffin
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PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE:
CITY: Brighton
STATE:
COUNTRY: United Kingdom
NATIONALITY: British
LAST VOLUME: SATA 350
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born April 13, 1962, in Capetown, South Africa; son of Morris Stroyan and Pamela Aileen Riddell; married Joanna Kathleen Burroughes (an artist), November 7, 1987; children: William, Katy, Jack.
EDUCATION:Attended Epsom School of Art and Design, 1980-81; Brighton Polytechnic, B.A. (visual communications; with first-class honors), 1984.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Illustrator, writer, and cartoonist. Political cartoonist for London Observer, 1995. Presenter at schools, libraries, and festivals.
AWARDS:Kate Greenaway Medal special commendation, 1995, and UNESCO Prize, 1997, both for Something Else; Ragazzi Prize honorable mention, Bologna Book Fair, and Kurt Maschler Award short-list, both 1998, both for The Swan’s Stories; Kate Greenaway Medal, 2002, for Pirate Diary by Richard Platt, and 2004, for Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver; Kate Greenaway Medal long-list, 2002, for The Story Giant, and 2009, for Wendel’s Workshop; Nestlé Smarties’ Book Prize Silver Award, 2002, for Pirate Diary, and 2006, for both Hugo Pepper (with Paul Stewart) and The Emperor of Absurdia; Blue Peter Book Award, 2003, for Pirate Diary; (with Stewart) Carnegie Medal long-list, 2003, for Muddle Earth; (with Stewart) Nestlé Smarties’ Book Prize Gold Award and 4Children Special Award, both 2004, both for Fergus Crane; Nestlé Smarties’ Book Prize Bronze Award, 2005, for Corby Flood; Nestlé Smarties’ Book Prize Gold Award, 2007, and Red House Children’s Book Award, 2008, both for Ottoline and the Yellow Cat; Kate Greenaway Medal short-list, 2007, for The Emperor of Absurdia, and 2008, for Ottoline and the Yellow Cat; Booktrust Early Years Award short-list, 2008, for Wendel’s Workshop; Kate Greenaway Medal short-list, 2010, for The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman; Hay Festival Medal for Illustration, 2015; Costa Children’s Book Award, 2013, and Kate Greenaway Medal short-list, 2015, both for Goth Girl and the Ghost of a Mouse; Blue Peter Book Award short-list, 2015, for Goth Girl and the Fete Worse Than Death; appointed Waterstones Children’s Laureate, 2015-17; Kate Greenaway Medal, 2016, for The Sleeper and the Spindle by Neil Gaiman; Officer of the Order of the British Empire, 2019.
WRITINGS
Contributor to periodicals, including London Economist, 1988-95, Independent, Independent on Sunday, Literary Review, New Statesman, and Guardian. Producer of cover art for Literary Review, beginning 1997, and New Statesman.
SIDELIGHTS
Winner of the prestigious Kate Greenaway Medal, Chris Riddell is an author, illustrator, and political cartoonist whose detailed pen-and-ink drawings appear in such original tales as The Wish Factory, Wendel and the Robots, Ottoline Goes to School, and the works in his “Goth Girl” series of novels. Riddell is best known, however, for his long-running collaboration with fellow writer Paul Stewart on the “Edge Chronicles” fantasy series, among other books. While many literary collaborators trade off and augment one another’s work, Riddell and Stewart work together in the truest sense, developing plots and writing in tandem while Riddell’s on-the-spot sketches suggest further advances in plot or character.
Riddell was born in Capetown, South Africa, but he moved to London as a child. A bookish youth, the middle child of five, he developed an early love of story and of language. “My father had a wonderful speaking voice,” he recalled to London Daily Telegraph correspondent Peter Stanford, “and I can still remember so clearly how he would read to the five of us at bedtime. … In my memories of childhood, stories are among the most evocative things—the stories we were first told, that we listened to, tell each other, and then went on to acquire this skill of reading. We had a whole set of the canon of children’s books, so bedtime would be when we heard things like Black Beauty and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.”
Riddell graduated from Brighton Polytechnic in 1984, with an honors degree in visual communications. His first published book, the self-illustrated picture book Ben and the Bear, appeared in 1985, the same year his illustrations began appearing in stories by other authors.
The humorous Ben and the Bear was quickly followed by Mr. Underbed and Bird’s New Shoes, in the latter of which Riddell pokes fun at the world of high fashion by showing several jungle creatures engaging in a form of sartorial one-upmanship. A Publishers Weekly contributor called it “a fun picture book with a simple story line.” Praise was also lavished on Riddell’s vibrantly colored illustrations for Bird’s New Shoes, School Library Journal critic Lauralyn Persson asserting that “the animals are cleverly drawn” and reveal “lots of innate comic personality.”
In Riddell’s The Trouble with Elephants a young girl’s much-loved stuffed toy elephant inspires her to imagine the problems that life with a real elephant might cause: pink rings in the bathtub, snoring at night, and terribly unfair games of see-saw and hide-and-go-seek. Phillis Wilson praised The Trouble with Elephants in Booklist, commenting that Riddell’s “use of exaggeration is a delightful addition to the gently engaging narrative.”
The Wish Factory again delves into a child’s imagination, as young Oliver is taken to a magical place in the clouds where he is given a wish to be used the next time a bad dream threatens. “A beautifully illustrated … picture book,” according to School Librarian contributor Margaret Banerjee, The Wish Factory benefits from Riddell’s use of sophisticated “nighttime colours.”
Another standalone self-illustrated volume by Riddell is Travels with My Sketchbook. This volume includes excerpts from the sketchbook he drew in daily during his tenure as children’s laureate of the United Kingdom. Riddell served as laureate between the years 2015 and 2017. His sketches include scenes from his daily life, pictures inspired by some of his favorite poems, members of his family, depictions of the travels on which he embarked, and places he visited in the capacity of children’s laureate. Riddell also presents sketches inspired by world events that occurred during these two years, including Brexit (Britain’s exit from the European Union), immigration problems throughout Europe, and the election of Donald Trump in the United States. Snow Wildsmith, a critic in Booklist, asserted that “Riddell’s thin-lined sketches and beautifully colored paintings are by turns funny, moving, somber, and thought-provoking.”
Once Upon a Wild Wood draws inspiration from various classic fairy tales, including “Little Red Riding Hood” and “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.” In an interview with Emily Drabble, a contributor to the BookTrust website, Riddell offered a synopsis of the book, stating: “ Once Upon a Wild Wood is about a little girl, Little Green Raincape, who sets off one day through the wild wood, which is indeed full of trees, and meets lots of different characters along the way, and they each have particular issues they want to sort out. Little Green Raincape, Green for short, helps them out through the pages of the book.” Riddell added, “In some ways, when I wrote Once Upon a Wild Wood, I wanted to explore some of the different characters and what they might be up to after the fairy tales they appeared in are finished.” In the book, Green has gone walking to attend the party of Rapunzel. While on her journey, she encounters various frightful figures from classic fairy tales, including the big bad wolf and the wicked old woman from “Sleeping Beauty.” Green’s optimistic nature helps her to see the good in these characters. As she continues on her way, she sees Little Red Riding Hood, the Seven Dwarves, the beanstalk from “Jack and the Beanstalk,” and the Prince from “Sleeping Beauty.” A reviewer on the BookTrust website commented, “Chris Riddell’s beautiful illustrations will set children’s imaginations.” Marianne Bradnock, writing in School Librarian, described Once Upon a Wild Wood as “a fairy tale tour de force.” Bradnock also asserted: “This is bound to become a firm favorite, to be read over and over again.”
In Platypus readers meet an interesting character that loves to collect special things. Platypus frets that his accumulation is not complete until he discovers a beautiful, curly shell. Tired after discovering this prize, he takes a quick nap, but when he wakes up the shell is gone. After a second shell disappears in a similar fashion, Platypus decides to solve the mystery. “Riddell conveys his message subtly and with good humor,” wrote a Kirkus Reviews contributor, and his “crisp watercolor illustration, finely accented in black ink, stands out against the stark white page.”
Platypus returns in both Platypus and the Lucky Day and Platypus and the Birthday Party, the latter of which finds the engaging hero planning a party for his favorite stuffed-animal friend. In Platypus and the Lucky Day the creature suffers a number of setbacks, including having his kite blow away. He decides that bed is the safest place to be, but the discovery of a lost toy under the covers encourages him to give the out-of-doors one more try. Describing Platypus as a “winsome character,” a Kirkus Reviews contributor added of Platypus and the Lucky Day that Riddell’s story is “comical in its own low-key way;” “what succeeds here,” the critic added, “is the note of cheery hope.”
Riddell introduces another endearing character in his self-illustrated chapter books Ottoline and the Yellow Cat and Ottoline Goes to School. In Ottoline and the Yellow Cat a curious young girl joins unusual friend Mr. Monroe to investigate the local disappearance of a succession of small dogs. Ottoline makes a new friend named Cecily in Ottoline Goes to School as the two girls spend a day at the Alice B. Smith School for the Differently Gifted. Although she does not discover her special talent while the class is engaged in crafts projects, Ottoline eventually finds a way to use her sleuthing abilities for the benefit of all.
Citing the artwork in Ottoline and the Yellow Cat as “a delight,” Booklist critic Stephanie Zvirin added that Riddell’s “lightweight mystery” is brought to life using “a cast of quirky characters and amazingly detailed” settings. In School Library Journal, Sara Paulson-Yarovoy rated Ottoline Goes to School as “an outstanding example of a picture book-cum-graphic novel,” crediting author/illustrator Riddell with combining visual “comical oddities and language that is rich, zany, and imaginative.”
Winner of a Costa Children’s Book Award, Riddell’s self-illustrated Goth Girl and the Ghost of a Mouse centers on Ada, a lonely, motherless youngster living in cavernous Ghastly-Gorm Hall with her widower father. With the help of Ishmael, the spirit of a departed mouse, Ada discovers a nefarious plot by Maltravers, the mansion’s gamekeeper, to spoil an upcoming hunt. “Riddell stocks his narrative with storytelling’s best bits—an old house full of surprises, secret gardens, mythical creatures, mystery, absurdity, suspense, unexpected friendships,” Julia Smith commented in Booklist, and Sara White writing in School Library Journal noted that the “intricately penned illustrations appear on almost every page, bursting with the characters’ quirky personalities.” According to London Daily Mail critic Sally Morris, the tale “is a cracking combination of rollicking mystery adventure and ghost story, beautifully illustrated and written with … a sly, literary wit aimed at parents reading aloud.”
Riddell’s unusual heroine returns in a number of companion volumes, including Goth Girl and the Fete Worse Than Death. Here Ada worries that Maltravers might sabotage a star-studded garden party and bake-off to be held at Ghastly-Gorm Hall, helps her shy lady’s maid find true love, and agonizes that everyone has forgotten her birthday. In Goth Girl and the Wuthering Fright, Ada investigates the strange goings-on at a dog show featuring authors and their canine companions, and Goth Girl and the Sinister Symphony finds Ada playing Cupid for her dad while trouble brews at a Ghastly-Gorm Hall musical festival. School Librarian contributor Liz Smith applauded the “hilarious line-up of characters” in Goth Girl and the Fete Worse Than Death, adding that the novel should be “read aloud and shared, so that the many clever wordplay and allusions can be spotted and savoured together.” Another School Librarian reviewer, Chris Routh, praised the inventive elements in Goth Girl and the Wuthering Fright, notably “a mystery to be solved, the cast of now familiar characters, the literary references, the entertaining footnotes and the whimsical sense of humour.”
In 1998 Riddell began his collaboration with Stewart, the neighbor and friend with whom he has produced dozens of unique books. Meeting as a result of the fact that their children attended the same school, the two also respected each other’s work and eventually became friends. The “Edge Chronicles” came about when Riddell drew a fantastical map and gave it to Stewart, who invented a story about the world Riddell had drawn.
Geared for middle-grade readers, the “Edge Chronicles” begins with Beyond the Deepwoods. Here Twig, a woodtroll, is shunned because he is taller and lankier than his short, stout woodtroll contemporaries. Questioned, Twig’s mother reveals that he is not really a woodtroll, but was found, abandoned, as a small infant. Unhappy living in woodtroll society, Twig decides to strike out on his own in the wider world. In search of his past as well as his destiny, he makes several friends and encounters all sorts of creatures—including Banderbears, shrykes, halitoads, trogs, and the horrific, shapeshifting Gloamglozer—before ultimately locating his father. Noting that Riddell’s illustrations “create a strong sense of the believable, well-imagined” fantasy world, Booklist reviewer Carolyn Phelan called Beyond the Deepwoods “an inventive, promising start” to the series.
In the flat Edge world, creatures of all sorts live in floating cities and skyships. The first three novels— Beyond the Deepwoods, Stormchaser, and Midnight over Sanctaphrax —follow Twig as he becomes a sky-pirate under the tutelage of his sky-pilot father and ultimately helps to save his world from the threat posed by the Guardians of the Night. In Midnight over Sanctaphrax, Twig saves a floating city that is chained to the Edge and peopled by a group of highly competitive alchemists, apprentices, and scholars. Described by School Library Journal critic Lisa Prolman as “a good adventure story with a very Hobbit-like feel,” Midnight over Sanctaphrax also addresses “issues of slavery and class structure” in its mix of story and art.
In The Curse of the Gloamglozer, Stewart and Riddell backtrack to the time before Twig’s birth and relate the adventures of his sky-captain father, Quint. Apprenticed to Sanctaphrax scholar Linius Pallitax, Quint studies by day and is sent on strange missions at night by his master. Eventually, with the help of Pallitax’s daughter Maris (who becomes Twig’s mother), Quint learns that the scholar is up to no good and sets about rescuing the floating city. Noting that Stewart and Riddell’s series is best known for its “imaginative settings” and its wealth of imaginative—and sometimes ruthless—creatures, School Library Journal reviewer Jenna Miller predicted that readers new to the “Edge Chronicles” will find The Curse of the Gloamglozer “complete and satisfying on its own.”
The Last of the Sky Pirates, Vox, and Freeglader take place fifty years in the future, as the Edge becomes an ever darker place. Apprentice scholar/knight Rook Barkwater is making a dangerous journey into the Deepwoods in a quest for knowledge when he meets up with Twig and joins the forces mounting against the Guardians of the Night. His master scholar, Vox Verlix, is up to no good, and Rook must thwart the evil academic’s quest for power, a quest that threatens the entire Edge world. Citing the “icky monsters, profoundly rotten villains, and shiny striving heroes” in the series, Walter Minkel wrote in a School Library Journal review of The Last of the Sky Pirates that Riddell’s “antique-style illustrations add to the fun.”
In Clash of the Sky Galleons, Quint realizes that his father, now co-captain of the sky ship Galerider, is becoming unbalanced due to his desire for revenge over the death of Quint’s mother. Praising Clash of the Sky Galleons in Booklist, Phelan noted that Riddell’s “precise, imaginative drawings” add to the “action-packed fantasy.” Other works in the “Edge Chronicles” saga include The Lost Barkscrolls and The Immortals.
Riddell and Stewart have also teamed up on several other heavily illustrated novel series, including “Muddle Earth,” a hidden-world fantasy, and “Blobheads,” which holds particular appeal among middle-grade boys due to its wacky humor and quirky art. Their “Far-Flung Adventures” and “Barnaby Grimes” books are set in Dickensian London. In Fergus Crane, the first “Far-Flung Adventures” novel, a ten-year-old waif receives a strange warning from a mysterious relative that draws him into a fantasy world of talking penguins and general whimsy. Citing the “overall air of endearing silliness” that characterizes Fergus Crane, a Publishers Weekly critic added that Riddell’s “whimsical illustrations” are incorporated in such a way that the work “pleasingly blur[s] … the line between novel and graphic novel.”
Darker in setting, the “Barnaby Grimes” series follows the adventures of young street messenger Barnaby, who travels via rooftops rather than along the city’s crime-ridden streets. In the first “Barnaby Grimes” novel, Curse of the Night Wolf, the protagonist discovers a maniacal doctor using the city’s poor as test patients for his strange tonic. Reviewing the novel, Ian Chipman wrote in Booklist that Stewart and Riddell’s “shivery mystery-horror hybrid” introduces an “appealing” young character in its “moody, highly detailed” art. Remarking on a sequel, Return of the Emerald Skull, Phelan predicted that the “Barnaby Grimes” books will “please readers with a taste for bloodthirsty adventure and a tolerance for unlikely story lines.”
With Returner’s Wealth, Riddell and Stewart began a fantasy trilogy set in the Wyrmeweald, a harsh region inhabited by dragon-like creatures. In the novel, readers meet Micah, a teenager seeking his fortune; Eli, a hermit who becomes Micah’s mentor; and Thrace, a guardian of the wyrmes. A Publishers Weekly critic applauded this series debut, noting that “the story is fast-paced, [and] full of gorgeous imagery and haunting moments,” and Sherry J. Mills noted in School Library Journal that Riddell’s illustrations “help bring to life a thorough picture of the brutality and desolateness of Wyrmeweald.” The “Wyrmeweald” series also includes Bloodhoney and The Bone Trail.
With Stewart as author and Riddell as illustrator, the creative team has also produced several books for younger readers. Their popular characters Rabbit and Hedgehog appear in A Little Bit of Winter, The Birthday Presents, and Rabbit’s Wish, among other books. In a review of Rabbit’s Wish in Booklist, Helen Rosenberg wrote that Riddell’s “soft, expressive watercolor illustrations are a good match for this story about friendship,” with the critic making a positive comparison to the popular “Frog and Toad” books by children’s author Arnold Lobel. In School Library Journal, Ann Cook also praised Riddell’s artistry, commenting that his “gentle” illustrations “underscore the joy these creatures share and the anxiety they feel when each thinks the other is in danger.”
In addition to his work with Stewart, Riddell has illustrated stories for several other authors. His artwork for Richard Platt’s Pirate Diary: The Journal of Jake Carpenter, about a nine-year-old boy who endures a brutal sea voyage, earned him a prestigious Kate Greenaway Medal. A Publishers Weekly contributor concluded of Riddell’s ink-and-watercolor illustrations here that, “with verve and puckish humor, they easily transport readers to high times on the high seas.”
A celebration of wordplay, A Great Big Cuddle: Poems for the Very Young by Michael Rosen features more than thirty joyful verses. “Riddell’s fluid watercolor-and-pencil illustrations bring a grace to each poem, no matter what its subject,” a writer noted in Kirkus Reviews, and Booklist contributor Sarah Hunter applauded the various characters’ “hugely expressive faces and gestures, which help to ground the sometimes absurd verses in recognizable emotions.” Russell Brand, a popular comedic actor, breathes new life into an old favorite in The Pied Piper of Hamelin, which features “tumbling, vigorous, plentiful illustrations” by Riddell, in the words of London Guardian reviewer Lucy Mangan. According to a Kirkus Reviews contributor, Brand “attacks” his narrative, a scathing look at materialism, “with full force,” with the critic adding that “Riddell is just as sharp, filling the book with eye-popping illustrations and beautiful coloring.”
Riddell’s work for noted comics writer and novelist Neil Gaiman can be found in the pages of Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book and Fortunately, the Milk … , among other stories. “Riddell embellishes the tale with elegant illustrations, some of which … communicate as much as the text,” Nicolette Jones observed in a London Sunday Times review of this first work. In Fortunately, the Milk … a father offers his children a host of fantastical explanations for his lengthy excursion to bring home some milk. “Riddell’s expressive and inventive illustrations set a treasure trail of clues for the inquisitive reader,” Tanja Jennings commented in her appraisal of the story in School Librarian. London Sunday Times reviewer Nicolette Jones also praised Riddell’s efforts, noting that he sketches “caricatures so sumptuously fantastical it feels like being given extra for free.”
Gaiman offers an imaginative reworking of both “Sleeping Beauty” and “Snow White” in The Sleeper and the Spindle. “Riddell’s spectacularly intricate ink drawings, gilded with gold, bring Gaiman’s inventive story to life,” Amanda MacGregor commented in School Library Journal. The illustrator “pour[s] his energy into myriad, spidery lines and delicate cross-hatching that recall Aubrey Beardsley’s eerie set pieces,” according to a Publishers Weekly writer, and Kristin Fletcher-Spear, writing in Voice of Youth Advocates, opined that “Riddell’s artwork is the reason a library should own this title in their collection. His details are exquisite.”
In recognition of his literary accomplishments, Riddell was selected as the ninth Waterstones Children’s Laureate in 2015. During his two-year term, he worked to promote visual literacy and the joy of creativity. “It’s important to communicate my love of what I do,” he told Charlotte Eyre in Bookseller. “It’s great that kids can see the author or illustrator as a person. One of the great pleasures is being able to talk about pictures and words and what they mean. This industry—the publishing industry—is one of the strongest we have, especially in terms of children’s books, and I think talking about that is great.”
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After illustrating another Neil Gaiman book, Pirate Stew, Riddell was asked to illustrate two volumes in Douglas Adams’s “Hitch-Hiker’s Guide” series: The Hitch-Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and The Restaurant at the End of the Universe. Riddell then teamed up with Kevin Crossley-Holland for two books based on legendary English kings. The first was Arthur, the Always, and the follow-up was King Alfred and the Ice Coffin.
King Alfred was a king of the West Saxons and then Anglo-Saxons in the ninth century. The middle-grade illustrated novella tells the story of Wulfstan, a sailor who arrives at Alfred’s court, where he tells the story of his adventures, including being shipwrecked, entering a horse race, and seeing a king encased in ice. Riddell captures the shifting narrative with different styles of illustrations. A reviewer in Publishers Weekly was enthusiastic about this outing. They especially enjoyed Riddell’s “richly expressive illustrations.” They wrote that Riddell’s “finely wrought drawings elevate this short story-within-a-story that exemplifies the sort of fable King Alfred sought to preserve.”
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BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, October 15, 1988, Phillis Wilson, review of The Trouble with Elephants, p. 413; October 15, 2001, Helen Rosenberg, review of Rabbit’s Wish, p. 402; December 15, 2001, Shelle Rosenfeld, review of Pirate Diary: The Journal of Jake Carpenter, p. 732; July, 2004, Carolyn Phelan, review of Beyond the Deepwoods, p. 1844; February 15, 2006, Carolyn Phelan, review of Fergus Crane, p. 99; May 15, 2006, Brian Wilson, review of Stormchaser, p. 66; April 1, 2007, Kristin McKulski, review of Hugo Pepper, p. 53; June 1, 2007, Carolyn Phelan, review of Muddle Earth, p. 75; November 1, 2007, Carolyn Phelan, review of Clash of the Sky Galleons, p. 48; May 15, 2008, Stephanie Zvirin, review of Ottoline and the Yellow Cat, p. 45; July 1, 2008, Ian Chipman, review of Curse of the Night Wolf, p. 61; March 1, 2009, Carolyn Phelan, review of Return of the Emerald Skull, p. 46; February 1, 2010, Ian Chipman, review of Legion of the Dead, p. 42; August 1, 2015, Julia Smith, review of The Sleeper and the Spindle, p. 66; September 15, 2015, Sarah Hunter, review of A Great Big Cuddle: Poems for the Very Young, p. 58; September 1, 2016, Julia Smith, review of Goth Girl and the Ghost of a Mouse, p. 111; April 15, 2018, Snow Wildsmith, review of Travels with My Sketchbook, p. 35.
Books, fall, 2001, review of Platypus, p. 18.
Bookseller, January 24, 2003, review of Muddle Earth, p. 29; July 18, 2003, “Briggs’ Blooming Books,” pp. 22-23; March 18, 2016, Charlotte Eyre, author interview, p. 12.
Books for Keeps, March, 1988, Jill Bennett, review of Mr. Underbed, p. 17; November, 1992, Liz Waterland, review of The Wish Factory, p. 16.
Daily Mail (London, England), September 27, 2013, Sally Morris, reviews of Goth Girl and the Ghost of a Mouse and Fortunately, the Milk … , both p. 59.
Daily Telegraph (London, England), December 23, 2016, Peter Stanford, author profile, p. 20.
Guardian (London, England), November 24, 2007, Julia Eccleshaw, review of Ottoline and the Yellow Cat, p. 22; September 14, 2013, Philip Ardagh, review of Fortunately, the Milk … , p. 14; November 28, 2014, Lucy Mangan, review of The Pied Piper of Hamelin; December 19, 2014, Susanna Rustin, author interview, p. 11; June 9, 2015, Michelle Pauli, author profile.
Horn Book, November-December, 1997, Ann A. Flowers, review of The Swan’s Stories, p. 689; January-February, 2007, Christine M. Hepperman, review of Hugo Pepper, p. 75.
Independent (London, England), June 10, 2015, Nick Clark, author profile.
Kirkus Reviews, April 15, 2002, review of Platypus, p. 577; July 1, 2002, review of Platypus and the Lucky Day, p. 962; July 1, 2004, review of Beyond the Deepwoods, p. 637; February 15, 2005, review of Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver, p. 229; April 15, 2006, review of Fergus Crane; July 1, 2007, review of Muddle Earth; April 15, 2008, review of Ottoline and the Yellow Cat; July 15, 2008, review of Barnaby Grimes; October 15, 2014, review of The Pied Piper of Hamelin; August 15, 2015, review of A Great Big Cuddle; March 15, 2019, review of Flights of Fancy; October 15, 2020, review of Pirate Stew; March 1, 2021, review of Honey for You, Honey for Me: A First Book of Nursery Rhymes; February 1, 2023, review of Arthur, the Always King.
Observer (London, England), October 28, 2001, review of Platypus, p. 16.
Publishers Weekly, February 27, 1987, review of Bird’s New Shoes, p. 164; June 4, 2001, review of Rabbit’s Wish, p. 82; October 22, 2001, review of Pirate Diary, p. 77; April 15, 2002, review of Platypus, p. 62; July 8, 2002, review of Platypus and the Lucky Day, p. 51; June 16, 2003, review of What Do You Remember?, p. 73; August 25, 2003, review of Castle Diary: The Journal of Tobias Burgess, p. 67; July 9, 2007, review of Muddle Earth, p. 54; July 22, 2013, review of Returner’s Wealth, p. 70; June 8, 2015, review of The Sleeper and the Spindle, p. 62; September 12, 2016, review of Goth Girl and the Ghost of a Mouse, p. 58; September 16, 2019, review of The Rabbits’ Rebellion, pp. 74+; September 2, 2024, review of King Alfred and the Ice Coffin, p. 65.
School Librarian, February, 1991, Margaret Banerjee, review of The Wish Factory, p. 20; winter, 2004, Irene Babsky, review of Fergus Crane, p. 204; spring, 2005, Robin Barlow, review of Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver, p. 35; fall, 2005, review of Corby Flood, p. 147; spring, 2013, Marry Crawford, review of Alienography 2: Tips for Tiny Tyrants, p. 44; summer, 2013, Rachel Ayers Nelson, review of The Bone Trail, p. 119; winter, 2013, Chris Brown, review of Goth Girl and the Ghost of a Mouse, p. 230; fall, 2014, Annike Dase, review of Zoid, p. 169; spring, 2015, Lesley Martin, review of The Sleeper and the Spindle, p. 36, and Liz Smith, review of Goth Girl and the Fete Worse Than Death, p. 42; spring, 2016, Chris Routh, review of Goth Girl and the Wuthering Fright, p. 44; winter, 2018, Marianne Bradnock, review of Once Upon a Wild Wood, p. 228.
School Library Journal, September, 1987, Lauralyn Persson, review of Bird’s New Shoes, p. 169; March, 1989, Lori A. Janick, review of The Trouble with Elephants, pp. 168-169; July, 2001, Ann Cook, review of Rabbit’s Wish, p. 89; December, 2001, Anne Chapman Callaghan, review of Pirate Diary, p. 142; June, 2002, Lisa Dennis, review of Platypus, p. 109; November, 2002, Bina Williams, review of Platypus and the Lucky Day, p. 134; December, 2003, Andrea Tarr, review of Platypus and the Birthday Party, p. 124; September, 2004, Erin Gray, review of Lake of Skulls, p. 218; October, 2004, Lisa Prolman, review of Midnight over Sanctaphrax, p. 178; February, 2005, Jenna Miller, review of The Curse of the Gloamglozer, p. 140; March, 2005, Heide Piehler, review of Gulliver’s Travels, p. 213; June, 2005, Walter Minkel, review of The Last of the Sky Pirates, p. 170; August, 2005, Walter Minkel, review of Joust of Honor, p. 136; June, 2006, Tim Wadham, review of Fergus Crane, p. 127; September, 2006, Walter Minkel, review of Corby Flood, p. 185; February, 2007, Quinby Frank, review of Hugo Pepper, p. 98; December, 2008, Elaine E. Knight, review of Curse of the Night Wolf, p. 139; January, 2009, Blair Christolon, review of The Emperor of Absurdia, p. 84; April, 2009, James K. Irwin, review of Barnaby Grimes: Return of the Emerald Skull, p. 142; July, 2009, Sara Paulson-Yarovoy, review of Ottoline Goes to School, p. 67; February, 2010, Anne Beier, review of Wendel’s Workshop, p. 92; July, 2013, Sherry J. Mills, review of Returner’s Wealth, p. 101; August, 2015, Amanda MacGregor, review of The Sleeper and the Spindle, p. 97; September, 2016, Sara White, review of Goth Girl and the Ghost of a Mouse, p. 144.
Sunday Times (London, England), November 2, 2008, Nicolette Jones, review of The Graveyard Book, p. 57; September 15, 2013, Nicolette Jones, review of Fortunately, the Milk … , p. 48.
Telegraph (London, England), June 9, 2015, Nicolette Jones, author interview.
Voice of Youth Advocates, October, 2013, Nancy K. Wallace, review of Returner’s Wealth, p. 87; October, 2015, Kristin Fletcher-Spear, review of The Sleeper and the Spindle, p. 69.
ONLINE
BookTrust, https://www.booktrust.org.uk/ (July 1, 2015), “Chris Riddell: Children’s Laureate 2015-17;” (August 23, 2018), Emily Drabble, author interview; (July 30, 2019), review of Once Upon a Wild Wood.
Chris Riddell website, http://www.chrisriddell.co.uk (August 1, 2017).
Digital Arts, https://www.digitalartsonline.co.uk/ (November 14, 2017), Miriam Harris, author interview.
London, https://www.thelondonmagazine.org/ (October 15, 2015), Thea Hawlin and Rachel Chanter, author interview.
Pan Macmillan website, https://www.panmacmillan.com/ (July 30, 2019), author profile.
Penguin Random House website, https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/ (July 30, 2019), author profile.
Storgy Kids, https://storgykids.com/ (July 27, 2018), author interview.*
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Chris Riddell
South Africa (b.1962)
Chris Riddell was born in 1962 in Cape Town, South Africa, where his father was a "liberal Anglican vicar" and was opposed to the system of apartheid. The family returned to England when Chris was one year old, where he spent the rest of his childhood with his sister and three brothers who are now living in South Africa, Brighton, England, and Egypt. He attended Archbishop Tenison's Grammar School in Kennington. Chris displayed artistic talent from an early age, and was encouraged in this by his mother. (She gave him paper and pen to keep quiet during father's sermons.) As a child, he admired the work of John Tenniel, the first illustrator of Alice in Wonderland, and W. Heath Robinson. At Brighton Polytechnic he studied illustration; one teacher was Raymond Briggs, an earlier winner of two Greenaway Medals. In 2002 he named as influences Tenniel and E. H. Shepard, the first illustrator of The Wind in the Willows and Winnie the Pooh.
Riddell worked as an illustrator at The Economist news magazine beginning in the 1980s and at The Observer newspaper from 1995.
As of 2002, Riddell and his wife Joanne Burroughes, an illustrator and print-maker, lived in Brighton with three children.
Awards: Costa (2013) see all
Genres: Children's Fiction, Young Adult Fantasy
New and upcoming books
May 2025
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A Mermaid's Diary
Series
Edge Chronicles (with Paul Stewart)
1. Beyond the Deepwoods (1998)
2. Stormchaser (1999)
3. Midnight over Sanctaphrax (2000)
Cloud Wolf (2001)
4. The Curse of the Gloamglozer (2001)
5. The Last of the Sky Pirates (2002)
6. Vox (2003)
7. Freeglader (2004)
Maps (2004)
8. Winter Knights (2005)
The Stone Pilot (2006)
9. Clash of the Sky Galleons (2006)
The Lost Barkscrolls (2007)
10. The Immortals (2009)
11. The Nameless One (2014)
The Sky Chart (2014)
12. Doombringer (2015)
13. The Descenders (2019)
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Blobheads (with Paul Stewart)
1. Invasion of the Blobs (1999)
2. Talking Toasters (1999)
3. School Stinks (2000)
4. Beware of the Babysitter (1999)
5. Garglejuice (2000)
6. Silly Billy (2000)
7. Naughty Gnomes (2000)
8. Purple Alert! (2000)
9. Blobheads Go Boing! (2004)
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Knight's Story (with Paul Stewart)
1. Lake of Skulls (2003)
2. Joust of Honor (2004)
3. Dragon's Hoard (2005)
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Muddle Earth (with Paul Stewart)
1. Muddle Earth (2003)
2. Muddle Earth Too (2011)
3. Dr. Cuddles Of Giggle Glade (2004)
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Far-flung adventures (with Paul Stewart)
Fergus Crane (2004)
Corby Flood (2005)
Hugo Pepper (2006)
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Barnaby Grimes (with Paul Stewart)
1. The Curse of the Nightwolf (2007)
2. Return of the Emerald Skull (2008)
3. Legion of the Dead (2008)
4. Phantom of Blood Alley (2009)
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Ottoline
1. Ottoline and the Yellow Cat (2007)
2. Ottoline Goes to School (2008)
3. Ottoline at Sea (2010)
4. Ottoline and the Purple Fox (2016)
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Wyrmeweald (with Paul Stewart)
1. Returner's Wealth (2010)
2. Bloodhoney (2012)
3. The Bone Trail (2013)
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Alienography
1. Alienography (2010)
2. Tips for Tiny Tyrants (2012)
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Muddle Earth Too
1. Down with Stinkyhogs! (2012)
2. The Trouble with Big Sisters (2012)
3. Pesticide the Flower Fairy (2012)
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Goth Girl
1. Goth Girl and the Ghost of a Mouse (2013)
2. Goth Girl and the Fete Worse Than Death (2014)
3. Goth Girl and the Wuthering Fright (2015)
4. Goth Girl and the Pirate Queen (2015)
5. Goth Girl and the Sinister Symphony (2017)
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Scavenger (with Paul Stewart)
1. Zoid (2014)
2. Chaos Zone (2015)
3. Mind Warp (2016)
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Cloud Horse Chronicles
1. Guardians of Magic (2019)
2. Tiggy Thistle and the Lost Guardians (2022)
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Novels
A Mermaid's Diary (2025)
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Collections
100 Hugs (2017)
Poems to Fall in Love With (poems) (2019)
Poems to Save the World With (poems) (2020)
We Wish You A Merry Christmas (poems) (2022)
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Anthologies edited
My Busy Book (1998)
Poems to Live Your Life By (2018)
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Picture Books hide
Ben and the Bear (1986)
Humphrey Goes to the Ball (1986)
Humphrey of the Rovers (1986)
Humphrey the Hippo (1986)
Humphrey's New Trousers (1986)
Mr Underbed (1986)
Gruesome Giants (1986)
Bird's New Shoes (1987)
The Fibbs (1987)
The Trouble with Elephants (1988)
When the Walrus Comes (1989)
The Bear Dance (1990)
The Wish Factory (1990)
Wonderful World of Zoom (1995)
Puzzle Boy (1996)
Platypus (2001)
Platypus and the Lucky Day (2002)
Platypus and the Birthday Party (2003)
The Emperor of Absurdia (2006)
Wendel's Workshop (2007)
Tao For Babies (2012)
Wendel and the Robots (2015)
Once Upon a Wild Wood (2018)
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Graphic Novels hide
Tribal Politics (1999)
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Non fiction hide
Management for Martians (1998)
The Da Vinci Cod (2005)
Doodle-a-Day (2015)
Travels with my Sketchbook (2017)
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Omnibus editions hide
Neil Gaiman & Chris Riddell Box Set (2015) (with Neil Gaiman)
Chris Riddell
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For the futurist and digital technology expert, see Chris Riddell (futurist).
Chris Riddell
OBE
A photograph of Chris Riddell's face, smiling
Riddell in 2010
Born 13 April 1962 (age 62)
Cape Town, South Africa
Occupation Illustrator, author, political cartoonist
Nationality British
Alma mater Brighton Polytechnic
Genre Children's
Spouse Joanne Burroughes
Children 3
Chris Riddell OBE (/rɪdˈɛl/ rid-EL) (born 13 April 1962) 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,[1][2] and two of his works were commended runners-up, a distinction dropped after 2002.[3][a]
Books that he wrote or illustrated have won three Nestlé Smarties Book Prizes and have been silver or bronze runners-up four times.[4] On 9 June 2015, he was appointed the UK Children's Laureate.[5]
Life
Chris Riddell was born in 1962 in Cape Town, South Africa, where his father was a "liberal Anglican vicar"[6] and was opposed to the system of apartheid. The family returned to England when Chris was one year old, where he spent the rest of his childhood with his sister and three brothers, who now live in South Africa, Brighton, and Egypt. He attended Archbishop Tenison's Grammar School in Kennington. Chris displayed artistic talent from an early age and was encouraged in this by his mother. (She gave him paper and pen to keep quiet during his father's sermons.)[6] As a child, he admired the work of Sir John Tenniel, the first illustrator of Alice in Wonderland, and W. Heath Robinson. At Brighton Polytechnic, he studied illustration; one teacher was Raymond Briggs, an earlier winner of two Greenaway Medals.[7]
Riddell worked as an illustrator at The Economist in the 1980s, and at the Observer starting in 1995.[6]
In 2002, he named as influences Tenniel and E. H. Shepard, the first illustrator of The Wind in the Willows and Winnie the Pooh.[6]
As of 2019, Riddell and his wife, Joanne Burroughes, an illustrator and print-maker, live in Brighton with three children.[6] They also have a second home in rural Norfolk where Joanne is from.[8] Daughter Katy Riddell is also a children's book illustrator, including of Pongwiffy by Kaye Umansky.[9][10][11]
His brother Rick Riddell, a secondary teacher at the Alice Smith School, died in February 2012.[12]
Career
The Edge Chronicles
Some of Riddell's most celebrated work are The Edge Chronicles (1998), a children's book series co-written with Paul Stewart and illustrated by Riddell. Set in the fictional world known as "The Edge", the books have been praised for Riddell's beautifully detailed line drawings and the unique nature of their collaborative writing process.[13]
Other works
For his illustrations, Riddell was a commended runner-up for the 1994 Kate Greenaway Medal (Something Else by Kathryn Cave) and highly commended for 1999 (Castle Diary by Richard Platt).[3][a]
He won the 2001 Medal for illustrating Pirate Diary: The Journal of Jake Carpenter by Platt.[1] The press release called Pirate Diary the first "information book" to win the Medal since 1975 and "a fictionalised account" when he spoke with author Richard Platt the harsh necessities of historical accuracy came into play. 'Everything I got excited about got shot down. No parrots, eye-patches or wooden legs. Thank god there were weapons and amputations!' (quoting Riddell).[6] (After Castle Diary and Pirate Diary, Platt continued the Diary series with illustrator David Parkins.)
Three years later, Riddell won the Greenaway again, this time for his work on Jonathan Swift's "Gulliver" (Walker, 2004), retold by Martin Jenkins from the 1726 classic Gulliver's Travels.[2] The panel chair commented, "Gulliver is a tour de force. Chris Riddell has given us 144 pages of fantastic, faultless illustrations, which constantly extend the power of the text. Our winning title also proves that today's picture books are not just for the youngest age-groups, but are [also] an important source of pleasure and learning for readers of all ages."[7] (The 2001 and 2004 panels recommended Pirate Diary and Gulliver for readers age 8+ and 10+, while their recommendations for thirteen other shortlisted books ranged from 2+ to 7+.)
Other books illustrated by Chris Riddell include Fergus Crane, Corby Flood, and Hugo Pepper, all set in the same world. These books were also co-written with Paul Stewart. Stewart and Riddell also collaborated on Muddle Earth and the Barnaby Grimes series. Most recently, Riddell has both written and illustrated the Ottoline series, written while he was on holiday visiting his brother in Malaysia.[clarification needed (see talk)] The first book, Ottoline and the Yellow Cat (2007), won the final Smarties Prize in age category 6–8 years (the Smarties were discontinued in 2008). It has been followed by Ottoline Goes to School and Ottoline at Sea.
Beside writing and illustrating books, Riddell is an acclaimed political cartoonist for the Observer newspaper in London, where his caricatures of politicians from John Major to Gordon Brown, Bill Clinton to George W. Bush, have earned him a reputation as a fine draughtsman and acute commentator on the political scene. Before working at the Observer, Chris spent time working at the Economist as an illustrator and occasional cover artist.
Chris Riddell is the cover artist for the Literary Review magazine formerly edited by Auberon Waugh, a role he took over from the late Willie Rushton. Chris's serial gag cartoon for this magazine, called "Illustration to Unwritten Books", was published in book form as The Da Vinci Cod and Other Illustrations to Unwritten Books.
In November 2017, Riddell publicly accused department store chain John Lewis of plagiarizing elements of his 1986 picture book Mr Underbed for their Christmas advert "Moz the Monster". The chain defended the allegations, noting that the concept of a monster who lived under a child's bed was a common literary trope, and that both works had dissimilar plots. The row led to renewed interest in the book, with copies quickly selling out from stores.[14][15]
Selected works
As author and illustrator
Ben and the Bear (1986)
Mr Underbed (1986)
Bird's New Shoes (1987)
The Fibbs (1987)
The Trouble With Elephants (1988)
The Wish Factory (1988)
When the Walrus Comes (1989)
The Bear Dance (1990)
The Wonderful World of Zoom (1995)
Puzzle Boy (1996)
My Busy Book (1998)
Tribal Politics (1999)
The Da Vinci Cod (2005)
The Emperor of Absurdia (2006)
Wendel's Workshop (2007)
Chris Riddell's Doodle-a-Day (2015)
100 Hugs (2017)
Travels with My Sketchbook (2017)
Once Upon A Wild Wood (2018)
Timorous Beasts (2021)
A Mermaid's Diary (2025)
The World of Mr. Munroe (2025)
Humphrey:
Humphrey the Hippo (1986)
Humphrey of the Rovers (1986)
Humphrey Goes to the Ball (1986)
Humphrey's New Trousers (1986)
Platypus:
Platypus (2001)
Platypus and the Lucky Day (2002)
Platypus and the Birthday Party (2003)
Ottoline:
Ottoline and the Yellow Cat (2007)
Ottoline Goes to School (2008)
Ottoline at Sea (2010)
Ottoline and the Purple Fox (2016)
Alienography:
Alienography or How to spot an alien and what to do about it (2010)
Alienography – Tips for Tiny Tyrants (2012)
Goth Girl:
Goth Girl and the Ghost of a Mouse (2013)
Goth Girl and the Fete Worse than Death (2014)
Goth Girl and the Wuthering Fright (2015)
Goth Girl and the Pirate Queen (2015 World Book Day edition)
Goth Girl and the Sinister Symphony (2017)
The Sleep Of Reason:
The Sleep Of Reason Volume I (2019)
The Sleep Of Reason Volume II (2020)
The Sleep Of Reason Volume III (2021)
The Cloud Horse Chronicles:
Guardians of Magic (2019)
Tiggy Thistle and the Lost Guardians (2022)
Five Years... A Sketchbook of Political Drawings:
Five Years... A Sketchbook of Political Drawings - Volume I 2020 (2021)
Five Years... A Sketchbook of Political Drawings - Volume II 2021 (2022)
Five Years... A Sketchbook of Political Drawings - Volume III 2022 (2023)
Five Years... A Sketchbook of Political Drawings - Volume IV 2023 (2024)
Five Years... A Sketchbook of Political Drawings - Volume V 2024 (2025)
As illustrator
Riddell has collaborated with Paul Stewart on dozens of books, including the Edge Chronicles series. He has also illustrated several books written by each of five other authors.
written by other authors
The Mystery of Silver Mountain (1984)
Beware, Princess! (1986)
Love Forty (1986)
Dreamboat Brontosaurus (1987)
Gruesome Giants (1987)
The Magician's Cat (1987)
Beyond the Rolling River (1988)
Dracula's Daughter (1988)
Moon Whales (1988)
Peter Pan (1988), an edition of the 1911 J. M. Barrie classic
Treasure Island (1988), an edition of the 1883 R. L. Stevenson classic
The Pirates of Pudding Beach (1989)
Manifold Manor (1989)
You're Thinking About Doughnuts (1989)
Ffangs the Vampire Bat and the Kiss of Truth (1990)
The Prism Tree (1990)
Lizzie Dripping and the Witch (1991)
Patrick in Person (1991)
Best Enemies (1992)
The Thing in the Sink (1992)
An Armful of Bears (1993)
A Trunkful of Elephants (1994)
Rent-a-Friend (1994)
Say Hello to the Buffalo (1994)
The Iron Wolf (1995)
Angus Rides the Goods Train (1996)
Brilliant Minds (1996)
Buddhism for Sheep (1996)
Feng Shui for Cats (1997)
Feng Shui for Dogs (1997)
The Castle of Inside Out (1997)
The Swan's Stories (1997)
The Tall Story (1997)
Until I Met Dudley (1997)
Buddhism for Bears (1998)
Buster's Diaries (1998)
Management for Martians (1998)
Stories for Me! (1998)
Castle Diary (1999), by Richard Platt
The Tao for Babies (2000)
Pirate Diary (2001), by Richard Platt
The Rabbits' Rebellion (2001)
Three Scary Stories (2001)
Hairy Bill (2002)
Un Italiano in America (2003)
Jonathan Swift's "Gulliver" (2004), Gullivers Travels (1726) adapted by Martin Jenkins
Politics Cutting Through the Crap (2006)
Don Quixote (2010), Don Quixote (1605) adapted by Martin Jenkins
Just So Stories (2013), an edition of the 1902 Rudyard Kipling classic
The Pied Piper of Hamelin (2014), by Russell Brand
The Box of Demons (2015), by Daniel Whelan
Things You Find in a Poet's Beard (2015), by A. F. Harrold
Island (2015), by Nicky Singer
My Little Book of Big Freedoms (2015)
The Hunting of the Snark (2016), an illustrated edition of The Hunting of the Snark (1876) by Lewis Carroll
The Castle of Inside Out (2016), by David Henry Wilson
The Lie Tree (2016), by Frances Hardinge
I Killed Father Christmas (2017), by Anthony McGowan
How To Stop Time (2017), by Matt Haig
A Kid in My Class (2018), by Rachel Rooney
Poems to Live Your Life By (2018)
The Tales of Beedle The Bard (2018), by J.K. Rowling
Poems to Fall in Love With (2019)
The Greenhill Dictionary of Military Quotations (2020), edited by Peter G. Tsouras
Poems to Save the World With (2020)
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (2020), an illustrated edition of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) by Lewis Carroll
DOCTOR WHO: Adventures in Lockdown (2020), by Chris Chibnall, Paul Cornell, Russell T Davies, Neil Gaiman, Mark Gatiss, Pete McTighe, Steven Moffat, Vinay Patel, Joy Wilkinson
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2021), by Douglas Adams
Indigo Takes Flight (2021), by Krista M. Lambert
Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There (2021), an illustrated edition of Through the Looking-Glass (1871) by Lewis Carroll
Booklet for the vinyl releases of Punisher (album) by Phoebe Bridgers
Arthur: The Always King (2021), by Kevin Crossley-Holland
The Big Amazing Poetry Book (2022)
We Wish You A Merry Christmas and other festive poems (2022)
A Passing On of Shells: 50 Fifty-Word Poems (2023), by Simon Lamb
The Little Prince (2023), an illustrated edition of The Little Prince (1943) by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
The Restaurant at the End of the Universe (2023), by Douglas Adams
Gods and Monsters - Mythological Poems (2023), by Ana Sampson
Mothtown (2023), by Caroline Hardaker
Heroes and Villains: Poems About Legends (2024), by Ana Sampson
King Alfred and the Ice Coffin (2024), by Kevin Crossley-Holland
written by Paul Stewart
The Edge Chronicles:
Beyond the Deepwoods (1998)
Stormchaser (1999)
Midnight Over Sanctaphrax (2000)
Cloud Wolf (2001) - Side story
The Curse of the Gloamglozer (2001)
The Last of the Sky Pirates (2002)
Vox (2003)
Freeglader (2004)
The Edge Chronicles Maps (2004)
The Winter Knights (2005)
The Stone Pilot (2006) - Side story
Clash of the Sky Galleons (2006)
The Lost Barkscrolls (2006)
The Immortals (2009)
The Nameless One (2014)
Doombringer (2015)
The Descenders (2019)
Rabbit and Hedgehog Stories:
A Little Bit of Winter (1998)
The Birthday Presents (1999)
Rabbit's Wish (2001)
What Do You Remember? (2002)
The Blobheads:
Invasion of the Blobs (February 2000)
Talking Toasters (February 2000)
School Stinks (March 2000)
Beware of the Babysitter (April 2000)
Garglejuice (May 2000)
Silly Billy (June 2000)
Naughty Gnomes (July 2000)
Purple Alert! (August 2000)
Muddle Earth:
Book 1: Muddle Earth (2003)
Muddle Earth Book/Section 1: Engelbert the Enormous
Muddle Earth Book/Section 2: Here be Dragons
Muddle Earth Book/Section 3: Doctor Cuddles of Giggle Glade
Book 2: Muddle Earth Too (2011)
Muddle Earth Too Book/Section 1: Down with Stinkyhogs
Muddle Earth Too Book/Section 2: Pesticide the Flower Fairy
Muddle Earth Too Book/Section 3: Trouble with Big Sisters
Free Lance:
Free Lance and the Lake of Skulls (2003)
Free Lance and the Field of Blood (2004)
Free Lance and the Dragon's Hoard (2005)
Far-Flung Adventures:
Fergus Crane (2004)
Corby Flood (2005)
Hugo Pepper (2006)
Barnaby Grimes:
Barnaby Grimes: Curse of the Nightwolf (2007)
Barnaby Grimes: Return of the Emerald Skull (2008)
Barnaby Grimes: Legion of the Dead (2008)
Barnaby Grimes: Phantom of Blood Alley (2009)
Wyrmeweald Trilogy:
Wyrmeweald Book 1: Returner's Wealth (2010)
Wyrmeweald Book 2: Bloodhoney (2012)
Wyrmeweald Book 3: The Bone Trail (2013)
Scavenger Series:
Scavenger: Zoid (2014)
Scavenger: Chaos Zone (2015)
Scavenger: Mind Warp (2016)
written by Andrew William Gibson
Ellis and the Hummick (1989)
The Abradizil (1990)
Jemima, Grandma and the Great Lost Zone (1991)
The Rollickers and Other Stories (1992)
The Amazing Witherspoon's Amazing Circus Crew (1993)
Chegwith Skillet Escapes (1995)
written by Kathryn Cave
Henry Hobbs, Alien (1990)
Out for the Count (1991)
Andrew Takes the Plunge (1994)
Something Else (1994) - UNESCO prize, 1997
Jumble (1995)
The Emperor's Gruckle Hound (1996)
Horatio Happened (1998)
William and the Wolves (1999)
Septimus Similon, Practising Wizard (2000)
Henry Hobbs, Space Voyager (2001)
Henry Hobbs and the Lost Planet (2002)
written by Philip Ridley
Kasper in the Glitter (1994)
Meteorite Spoon (1994)
Dakota of the White Flats (1995)
Mercedes Ice (1995)
Dreamboat Zing (1996)
Scribbleboy (1997)
ZinderZunder (1998)
written by Brian Patten
Beowulf and the Monster (1999)
Juggling With Gerbils (2000)
The Story Giant (2002)
Gargling With Jelly (2003)
Thawing Frozen Frogs (2003)
The Utter Nutters (2007)
written by Neil Gaiman
The Graveyard Book (2008)
The Sleeper and the Spindle (2013) - Kate Greenaway Medal winner, 2016
Fortunately, the Milk... (2013)
Coraline (2013)
Odd and the Frost Giants (2016)
Neverwhere (2017)
Art Matters: Because Your Imagination Can Change The World (2018)
Pirate Stew (2020)
What You Need to Be Warm (2023)
written by Michael Rosen
A Great Big Cuddle: Poems for the Very Young (2015)
Many Different Kinds of Love (2021)
Michael Rosen's Pocket Shakespeare (2025)
written by Francesca Gibbons
A Clock of Stars:
A Clock of Stars: The Shadow Moth (2020)
A Clock of Stars: Beyond the Mountains (2021)
A Clock of Stars: The Greatest Kingdom (2022)
Awards and recognitions
Some of these awards and related honours may have recognised the writers of books Riddell illustrated. The three Greenaway Medals, two commendations, and three shortlists recognised Riddell as illustrator.
Awards
1997 Something Else, written by Kathryn Cave, won the UNESCO Prize for Children's and Young People's Literature in the Service of Tolerance.[16] Later in a TV in 13.9.2001. (ages 3-6).
2001 Pirate Diary, written by Richard Platt, won the Kate Greenaway Medal.[1][6]
2003 Pirate Diary won the Blue Peter Book Award, Best Book with Facts.[17]
2004 Jonathan Swift's "Gulliver", adapted by Martin Jenkins from the 1726 classic, won the Kate Greenaway Medal.[2][7]
2004 Fergus Crane, written by Paul Stewart, Nestlé Smarties Book Prize (ages 6–8) and the Smarties Prize "4Children Special Award".[4]
2007 Ottoline and the Yellow Cat, written and illustrated by Riddell, won the Nestlé Smarties Book Prize (ages 6–8).[4]
2008 Ottoline and the Yellow Cat won a Red House Children's Book Award.[18]
2013 Goth Girl and the Ghost of a Mouse won the Costa Book Awards (Children's category).[19][20]
2016 The Sleeper and the Spindle, written by Neil Gaiman and illustrated by Riddell, won the Kate Greenaway Medal. This made him become the first ever triple winner of the award.[21]
2019 He was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for services to illustration and charity.[22][23]
Runners-up, etc.
1994 Something Else by Cave was commended for the Greenaway Medal.[3][a]
1999 Castle Diary by Platt was highly commended for the Greenaway Medal.[3][a]
2002 Pirate Diary by Platt was Smarties silver runner-up (ages 6–8).[4]
2005 Corby Flood by Stewart was Smarties bronze runner-up (ages 6–8).[4]
2006 Hugo Pepper by Stewart was Smarties silver runner-up (ages 6–8).[4]
2006 The Emperor of Absurdia, written and illustrated by Riddell, was Smarties silver runner-up (ages 0–5).[4]
2007 The Emperor of Absurdia made the Greenaway shortlist.[24]
2008 Ottoline and the Yellow Cat, written and illustrated by Riddell, made the Greenaway shortlist.[24]
2008 Wendel's Workshop, written and illustrated by Riddell, made the Booktrust Early Years Award shortlist.[25]
2010 The Graveyard Book, written by Neil Gaiman, made the Greenaway shortlist in its Children's Edition illustrated by Riddell.[24][b] (Gaiman won the companion Carnegie Medal).[26]
Walker Books FLIGHTS OF FANCY Walker US/Candlewick (Children's Informational) $19.99 4, 9 ISBN: 978-1-5362-0536-7
To celebrate 20 years of the U.K.'s Children's Laureate program, the first 10 to be appointed to the position offer remarks on their craft.
The roster of contributors is heavy with honored names, bookended by Quentin Blake, the first laureate (1999-2001), who writes about stylistic relations between pictures and story, and Lauren Child (2017-2019), describing how her stories develop in a dynamic mix of writing and drawing. In between, Michael Rosen grows a poem from one funny-sounding word, "Bobble"; Michael Morpurgo ruminates on finding just the right voice; Jacqueline Wilson presents a short story in diary form; and Chris Riddell visually lays out a five-point strategy for making drawing a constant daily activity. Malorie Blackman, the only person of color in the lineup, follows a set of brainstorming questions with a fable written from three points of view. Some contributions, such as Morpurgo's tale of a heroic librarian, "I Believe in Unicorns," Anne Fine's selection of original bookplates by various eminent illustrators, and Anthony Browne's Shape Game, have appeared elsewhere in print or online, but the personal statements are new and the contents assembled in an appealingly informal way that invites younger audiences to the party as well as readers who have grown up with these authors and illustrators. Riddell's caricatures at the end are alone worth the price of admission.
A genial salute to and from the original corps of children's-literature ambassadors. (Anthology. 10-13)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2019 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Source Citation
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"Walker Books: FLIGHTS OF FANCY." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Mar. 2019. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A578090796/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=a884e5f3. Accessed 6 Mar. 2025.
Ariel Dorfman, illus. by Chris Riddell. Triangle Square, $12.95 (64p) ISBN 978-1-60980-937-9
Argentine-Chilean-American novelist Dorfman's only children's book, which was written in the 1970s and published in the U.K. in 2001, makes its uncannily timed arrival on U.S. shores. After wolves conquer the land of the rabbits, their pompous leader proclaims himself King of the Wolves and decrees that rabbits have "ceased to exist," going so far as to eradicate them from literature. The deluded narcissist summons an elderly monkey photographer to record him flexing his muscles, frightening pigeons, and sitting atop his absurdly elevated throne. He orders them to be displayed "on every wall in the kingdom" and sent abroad, "so those silly foreign papers will stop attacking me." But when the photos are developed, rabbits are brazenly posing in the foreground, and the bewildered photographer is tasked with erasing their images. In prose that speaks volumes, Dorfman's eerily prescient allegorical gem shapes a resounding portrait of power abused and censorship foiled, reinforced by Riddell's (the Goth Girl series) droll, spot-on line drawings. A tale for the ages--and for all ages. Ages 7--up. (Nov.)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2019 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Source Citation
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"The Rabbits' Rebellion." Publishers Weekly, vol. 266, no. 37, 16 Sept. 2019, pp. 74+. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A600450509/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=8415a16c. Accessed 6 Mar. 2025.
Gaiman, Neil PIRATE STEW Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins (Children's None) $17.99 12, 1 ISBN: 978-0-06-293457-4
This book could serve as a recruiting drive for pirates, mostly because of the hair.
Pirate hair, in Riddell’s illustrations, is glorious. It’s powder blue, or it’s peaked like twin mountains or forms crests like waves in the ocean. More important, the pirates have joyous, irresistible smiles. But the two children who find themselves babysat by these benign buccaneers are still suspicious. The pirates in this picture book don’t follow the rules of ordinary seagoers. When they make their titular stew, the ingredients include “a Jolly Roger” and “half a sack of gold doubloons.” If you eat it, they say, “You’ll become a pirate too!” The artwork also blithely veers from the text. Gaiman says that the chief pirate has gray hair, but in Riddell’s delicately lined cartoons his beard is a bright, cheerful blue, proving that no one should ever trust pirates or artists or children’s-book authors. But it’s hard to be afraid of buccaneers who shout things like “Toodle-pip!” The crew is diverse enough—in wardrobe and in racial presentation—that almost any reader can feel welcome. The children have brown skin and come from an interracial family, with a White mother and a Black father. The rhythm of the rhyming text is instantly catchy, though it’s so dense that a word and its rhyme occasionally become separated when the layout places them on different pages. (This book was reviewed digitally with 9.8-by-15-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)
Readers may wish that Talk Like a Pirate Day lasted all year long. (Picture book. 4-9)
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"Gaiman, Neil: PIRATE STEW." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Oct. 2020. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A638165928/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=b33acca1. Accessed 6 Mar. 2025.
Rosen, Michael HONEY FOR YOU, HONEY FOR ME Candlewick (Children's None) $19.99 3, 2 ISBN: 978-1-5362-1273-0
This is not your average book of nursery rhymes.
This illustrated collection consists of verses sourced from historical anthologies and therefore contains poems that many Americans have most likely never encountered before. Many include nonsense words or onomatopoeia and are a pleasure to read out loud. The accompanying pictures feature a diverse cast of wide-eyed children, and, on several pages, the cleverly designed, multicolored type takes the shape of the rhyme it conveys. In a poem about flying, for example, the words are curved as though in flight, and in a verse about looking through a keyhole, the text gets progressively smaller along with the perspective. Some illustrations usefully provide pictorial definitions for vocabulary such as jelly, which in this case refers to a gelatin dessert, that is archaic or rooted in a European tradition that may be unfamiliar to readers without that background. Unfortunately, on other pages, words like tupenny and ha’penny are left without an illustrated reference, leaving definitions up to readers. Additionally, references to sausage and bacon might be problematic for families that come from traditions that traditionally avoid pork. Overall, the book is a thoughtfully curated and entertaining read for devotees of English and Anglo-American children’s verse or for adults looking to expose their children to nursery rhymes they may not otherwise hear. (This book was reviewed digitally with 11.6-by-21.4-inch double-page spreads viewed at 39.3% of actual size.)
An unusual, lively collection of nursery rhymes sourced from historic texts. (Picture book. 2-4)
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"Rosen, Michael: HONEY FOR YOU, HONEY FOR ME." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Mar. 2021. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A653125757/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=2bbf74f8. Accessed 6 Mar. 2025.
Crossley-Holland, Kevin ARTHUR, THE ALWAYS KING Candlewick Studio (Teen None) $29.99 4, 11 ISBN: 978-1-5362-1265-5
A stately rendition of the Arthurian legend, garbed in sumptuous dress.
With much use of rich golden tones and his customary fanatical attention to detail, Riddell fills every available space, from page corners to broad pictorial borders and wordless full spreads, with grave knights in extravagant full armor, slender damsels and crones in flowing silks, luxuriant castles and chambers, and frighteningly bestial giants and other monsters. Crossley-Holland's retelling of the Matter of Britain is less impressive, though he does cover the main Christian-inflected storyline (with a few additions, such as the tale of Gawain and the Green Knight). By adding care for the Earth as a knightly task, he introduces a contemporary note. But the women are still malign witches, flighty incompetents, or temptresses--and along with having Sir Lancelot mansplain early on that "women are the same as us, but different" ("Strange creatures," says Sir Tristram. "Their feelings are so strong," whines Sir Geraint), the author doubles down later by mystically declaring that the Holy Grail is actually Mary, at once male and female. But if the sex all takes place behind euphemisms or closed doors, at least, there is much rousingly explicit gore in narrative and visuals, and both Arthur and the annoyingly all-knowing Merlin wind up as properly available for return comings. Some of the Round Table knights, such as Sir Lamorak, are depicted with brown skin.
Visually stunning but there are many better--because they are less rigidly traditional--versions around. (Illustrated fantasy. 12-15)
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"Crossley-Holland, Kevin: ARTHUR, THE ALWAYS KING." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Feb. 2023. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A735117802/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=2da2067f. Accessed 6 Mar. 2025.
King Alfred and the Ice Coffin
Kevin Crossley-Holland, illus. by Chris Riddell. Candlewick Studio, $18.99 (88p) ISBN 978-1-5362-3880-8
Previous collaborators Crossley-Holland and Riddell (Arthur, the Always King) reteam in this mythic reimagining of pre-Arthurian legend. Desiring for his people "to be able to read and hear great books in their own language," King Alfred of Wessex translated tales of ancient cultures from Latin to English. He soon began recording the stories of his own people, one of which the author retells here. Unembellished prose details King Alfred's meeting with a traveler who had "a tale to tell," and Riddell's richly expressive illustrations, initially in sepia tones, shift to moody indigo as visitor Wulfstan of Ravenscar spins a story of shipwreck, adventure, and romance for the host's court. Following a violent storm, rendered in vivid and strikingly impressionistic artwork, Wulfstan and his crew are stranded among an unfamiliar but welcoming people. After the passing of a local town headman, the visitors are introduced to the peoples' customs, including the titular ice coffin, used as a means of preserving the recently deceased, and a treasure hunt that spells love for the narrator. Finely wrought drawings elevate this short story-within-a-story that exemplifies the sort of fable King Alfred sought to preserve. All characters are white. Ages 10up. Author's agent: Jessica Hare, the Agency. Illustrator's agent: Philippa Milnes-Smith, Soho Agency. (Nov.)
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"King Alfred and the Ice Coffin." Publishers Weekly, vol. 271, no. 33, 2 Sept. 2024, p. 65. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A812513348/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=4a9d15c1. Accessed 6 Mar. 2025.