Helen Cooper (illustrator)

Helen Cooper
Born1963
London, UK
Occupation(s)Freelance author and illustrator
Years active1987–present
ChildrenPandora[1]
Websitehelencooperbooks.co.uk

Helen Sonia Cooper (born 1963 in London) is a British illustrator and an author of children's literature. She grew up in Cumbria, where she practiced literature and piano playing. She currently lives in Oxford.[1]

Cooper has twice been awarded the Kate Greenaway Medal from the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP), recognising the year's best children's book illustration by a British subject.[2][3] She won for The Baby Who Wouldn't Go To Bed in 1996, which she wrote and illustrated.[4] In 1998 she won for Pumpkin Soup, which she also wrote and illustrated. They were consecutive projects for her.[5]

Beside winning the two Greenaway Medals (no one has won three), Cooper made the shortlist for The Bear Under the Stairs (Doubleday, 1993) and Tatty Ratty (Doubleday, 2001).[6][7]

As well as her solo picture books, Cooper writes picture book texts for other illustrators, and also illustrates her own middle grade fiction - most recently, The Taming of the Cat' published by Faber and Faber in the UK.

WorldCat reports that Pumpkin Soup is her work most widely held in participating libraries.[8]

Personal life

Cooper was married to Ted Dewan, a fellow children's book author and illustrator and they have one daughter. They are now divorced. [9]

Works

Cooper is both the writer and the illustrator of many published picture books and a set of four "mini-books" about toy animals (1994), later packaged in English, Spanish, and Catalan languages as Toy Tales (1999).[8] She has illustrated a few books by other writers[6] and written one book with another illustrator, as noted.

  • Kit and the Magic Kite (1987)
  • Lucy and the Eggwitch (1989), by Moira Miller
  • Solomon's Secret (1989), by Saviour Pirotta
  • Ella and the Rabbit (1990)
  • Christmas Stories for the Very Young (1990), a collection edited by Sally Grindley
  • The Owl and the Pussycat (1991), an edition of the classic by Edward Lear
  • Chestnut Grey (1993)
  • The Bear Under the Stairs (1993)
  • The House Cat (1993)
  • Toy Tales (1994; 1999 omnibus under one title)
    • The tale of bear
    • The tale of frog
    • The tale of duck
    • The tale of pig
  • Little Monster Did It! (1995)
  • The Boy Who Wouldn't Go To Bed (1996)
  • Pumpkin Soup (1998)
  • Tatty Ratty (2001)
  • Sandmare (Corgi, 2001), written by Cooper and illustrated by Ted Dewan
  • A Pipkin of Pepper (2003 or 2004) – sequel to Pumpkin Soup
  • Delicious (2006) – sequel to Pumpkin Soup
  • Dog Biscuit (2008)
  • The Hippo at the end of the Hall (2017) - a children's illustrated middle grade novel.
  • Saving The Butterfly (2022) - Written by Cooper and illustrated by Gill Smith.[10]
  • 'The Taming of the Cat' - a children's illustrated middle grade novel, written and illustrated by Cooper.

References

  1. ^ a b "Helen Cooper - Macmillan". Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  2. ^ (Greenaway Winner 1996). Living Archive: Celebrating the Carnegie and Greenaway Winners. CILIP. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
  3. ^ (Greenaway Winner 1998). Living Archive: Celebrating the Carnegie and Greenaway Winners. CILIP. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
  4. ^ Brennan, Geraldine (1997). "Drawing on Memories of Vegas". TES: Times Educational Supplement. Vol. 4229, no. 9.
  5. ^ "Helen Cooper". Authors: A–Z. The Random House Group. Retrieved 20 February 2010.
  6. ^ a b "Picture Books Main Page". Helen Cooper. Retrieved 3 September 2012. (See also the left menu.)
  7. ^ Press Desk Archived 28 July 2012 at the Wayback Machine (directory). CILIP. Retrieved 16 July 2012. Quote: "media releases relating to the CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Children's Book Awards in date order." (2002 to 2006 releases concern 2001 to 2005 awards.)
  8. ^ a b "Cooper, Helen (Helen F.)". WorldCat. Retrieved 1 December 2012.
  9. ^ Rockman, Connie (2004). "Helen Cooper". Ninth Book of Junior Authors & Illustrators – via Bio Ref Bank.
  10. ^ "Walker Books - Saving the Butterfly". www.walker.co.uk. Retrieved 21 February 2022.