In this special birthday book, we have collected new and previously published pieces by today's most acclaimed children's writers, and extracts from well-loved children's literature, all accompanied by stunning artwork from leading illustrators. This collection includes stories, poems, fiction and non-fiction extracts - all specially chosen around the theme of birthdays and all with introductions by authors and celebrities.
Royalties will go to the Prince's Foundation for Children and the Arts, which works closely with local and national arts providers (like theatres, orchestras, museums and galleries) and schools to provide high quality and sustained access to the arts for children who would otherwise not have this access.
This anthology gathers together some of the best-known authors and illustrators writing and illustrating for children, including:
Philip Ardagh * Peter Bailey * Nicola Bayley * Ian Beck * Patrick Benson * Anna Bhushan * Malorie Blackman * Quentin Blake * Valerie Bloom * Lewis Carroll * Emma Chichester Clark * Eoin Colfer * Susan Cooper * Frank Cottrell-Boyce * Kevin Crossley-Holland * Roald Dahl * Alexis Deacon * Maura Dooley * Sara Fanelli * Anne Fine * Hannah Firmin * Catherine Fisher * Michael Foreman * John Foster * Jamila Gavin * David Gentleman * Emily Gravett * Anthony Horowitz * Norman Hunter * Eva Ibbotson * Bruce Ingman * John Lawrence * Mick Manning & Brita Granström * Geraldine McCaughrean * Roger McGough * Michael Morpurgo * Andrew Motion * E. Nesbit * Philip Pullman * Arthur Ransome * Chris Riddell * David Roberts * J. K. Rowling * Axel Scheffler * Nick Sharratt * Posy Simmonds * Joel Stewart * Noel Streatfeild * Eleanor Updale * Charlotte Voake * Jacqueline Wilson * Chris Wormell * Kit Wright
Michael Morpurgo has written over 120 books, many of them award-winning. His most well-known work, War Horse, was adapted into a multi-Oscar nominated film by Steven Spielberg, and a widely-acclaimed play at the National Theatre.
In 2003 Michael became the third Children's Laureate, a position he helped create with the poet Ted Hughes.
With his wife, Clare, he set up the charity Farms for City Children, and for their pioneering work they were both awarded the MBE in 1999.
Quentin Blake has been drawing ever since he can remember. He taught illustration for over twenty years at the Royal College of Art, of which he is an honorary professor. He has won many prizes, including the Hans Christian Andersen Award for Illustration, the Eleanor Farjeon Award and the Kate Greenaway Medal, and in 1999 he was appointed the first Children’s Laureate. In the 2013 New Year’s Honours List he was knighted for services to illustration.
