Francesca Simon | |
|---|---|
| Born | Francesca Isabella Simon 23 February 1955 |
| Nationality | British |
| Alma mater | Yale University; Jesus College, Oxford |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Years active | 1963–present[1] |
| Notable work | Horrid Henry Evil Evie |
| Spouse | Martin Stamp |
| Children | 1 |
| Father | Mayo Simon |
| Relatives | Anne Simon (sister) |
| Writing career | |
| Genre | Children's literature |
| Website | francescasimon |
Francesca Isabella Simon MBE (born 23 February 1955) is an American-born British author. She is most famous for writing the Horrid Henry and Evil Evie series of children's books.
She is the daughter of screenwriter and playwright Mayo Simon[2] (not to be confused with Simon Mayo, a British radio DJ).
Biography
[edit]Simon was born on 23 February 1955 in St. Louis, Missouri. She grew up in California and studied at Yale University and Jesus College, Oxford, where she majored in medieval studies and Old English. Simon worked as a journalist, writing for The Sunday Times, The Guardian, Mail on Sunday, The Daily Telegraph and Vogue (US).[3] She is married to an English husband, Martin Stamp, and has one son called Joshua (born August 1989).[4]
Simon was inspired to write by Anthony Trollope.[5] She began to write children's books full-time in 1989. Simon is one of the UK's best-selling children's writers;[2] she has published more than 50 different books, including her most popular Horrid Henry series, which has sold more than 21 million copies and has been translated into 31 languages.[6][7][8][9] Simon got the idea for Horrid Henry when she was asked by Judith Elliott, an editor at Orion Books, to write a story about a horrid child.[10][11][7][12] She also wanted to write about sibling rivalry and families where one child was considered "perfect" and the other "horrid".[13][14][8] Inspiration also came from Cain and Abel, Oedipus Rex, Seinfeld, and Simon's own childhood, growing up in California the eldest of four siblings (including her sister Anne), desperately wanting to be an only child. They lived in small houses with confined spaces, with their father Mayo writing upstairs and telling them to be quiet.[15][16][17] Many of the books' stories were inspired by events from Simon's life and those of people that she knew, with additional ideas coming from her imagination.[13][18][19]
Simon lives in London with her husband, Martin. Their Tibetan spaniel, Shanti, is memorialised in the short story "Shanti" that Simon wrote for inclusion in the Paws and Whiskers anthology by fellow author Jacqueline Wilson published in February 2014.[20]
In the spring of 2019 the Royal Opera House staged an opera based on Simon's book The Monstrous Child, about the Norse god of the dead, Hel, as an angry teenager. The opera is composed by Gavin Higgins with libretto by Simon.[21]
Selected works
[edit]- Horrid Henry series, illustrated by Tony Ross, Orion Books, 1994 to 2015, 2019
- Simon, Francesca (1995). The Topsy Turvies. Illustrated by Keren Ludlow (1st ed.). Dial Press. ISBN 978-0803719699.
- Simon, Francesca (2012). The Topsy-Turvies (Early Reader). Illustrated by Emily Bolam. Orion Children's. ISBN 978-1444005127.
- Simon, Francesca (2014). The Lost Gods. Profile Books. ISBN 978-1846685668. – longlisted for the Guardian Prize, 2014
- Simon, Francesca (2017). The Monstrous Child (Paperback ed.). Faber & Faber Children's. ISBN 978-0571330270.
- Simon, Francesca (2017). Hack and Whack. Illustrated by Charlotte Cotterill. Faber & Faber Children's. ISBN 978-0571328710.
Honours and awards
[edit]In 2008, Simon won the British Book Award for British Book Award The Children's Book of the Year with Horrid Henry and the Abominable Snowman. She is the first American to win this award.[22][23][5]
Simon was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2023 New Year Honours for services to literature.[24]
References
[edit]- ^ "About Francesca Simon". BrittenPearsArts.com. BrittenPears. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
- ^ a b McCrum, Robert (13 September 2013). "Francesca Simon: 'When I started out, people would ask: "When will you write for adults?"'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
- ^ "Francesca Simon — People — Royal Opera House". www.roh.org.uk. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
- ^ Simon, Francesca; Church, Christ (10 October 2019). "Henry's creator was so inspiring". Henley Standard. Retrieved 18 August 2025.
- ^ a b Bookseller staff (10 June 2014). "20 Years of Horrid Henry". The Bookseller. Retrieved 2 February 2017.
- ^ "Horrid Henry". Sourcebooks. Archived from the original on 13 February 2025. Retrieved 22 July 2025.
- ^ a b Lacey, Hester (16 August 2013). "The Inventory: Francesca Simon". Financial Times. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
- ^ a b Costa, Monica (13 July 2014). "Exclusive chat with Horrid Henry's 'mum' Francesca Simon on her inspiration behind the naughtiest boy in literature". London Mums Magazine. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
- ^ Booka staff (23 March 2019). "A Morning with Francesca Simon – Celebrating 25 Years of Horrid Henry!". Booka Bookshop. Retrieved 18 August 2025.
- ^ Round, Simon (11 December 2008). "Interview: Francesca Simon". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 11 August 2025.
- ^ Tims, Anna (17 June 2013). "How we made: Horrid Henry". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 August 2025.
- ^ Madlela, Khulekani (10 July 2022). "Francesca Simon on Horrid Henry character disappointment". Gulf News. Retrieved 11 August 2025.
- ^ a b "Here are the answers to some of your questions..." Hatchette UK. Archived from the original on 15 October 2004. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
- ^ "Horrid Henry – Live and Horrid! - Teachers' Resource Pack" (PDF). 2008. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
The idea for Horrid Henry came about when an illustrator friend of Francesca Simon's 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, Simon also wanted to write about the relationships between brothers and sisters, and so she created Perfect Peter. Although she says she adores Peter, 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"!
- ^ "Francesca Simon interview: what makes Henry so horrid?". The Telegraph. 5 April 2010. Archived from the original on 26 April 2023. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
- ^ Independent staff (28 August 2011). "Francesca Simon: 'I wanted Horrid Henry to be like Cain and Abel'". The Independent. Retrieved 11 August 2025.
- ^ Jewish News staff (17 June 2014). "Author Francesca Simon reveals the real inspiration behind Horrid Henry". Jewish News. Archived from the original on 10 December 2024. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
- ^ "Horrid Henry: The Facts Behind the Fiction" (PDF). 2013. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
- ^ "Here are the answers to some of your questions..." (PDF). 2013. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
I get my ideas from things that happen to me, or to people I know, or from my imagination. I think of ordinary situations, like birthday parties or getting nits, and then add a "horrid" twist. So if my son, Josh, has to have an injection, I think of how Henry would behave.
- ^ Simon, Francesca (13 February 2014). "Supporting Battersea Cats and Dogs Home". www.francescasimon.com. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
Published today is Paws and Whiskers a special anthology of the very best stories about cats and dogs from the world of children's literature, chosen by my fellow author, and Battersea Cats and Dogs Home patron Jacqueline Wilson. This book is very special to me because it includes a piece about Shanti, my wonderful Tibetan spaniel, who very sadly died last autumn. That's Shanti on the cover, in the bottom right hand corner!
- ^ "The Monstrous Child — Productions — Royal Opera House". www.roh.org.uk. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
- ^ BBC News staff (10 April 2008). "Rowling honoured at book awards". BBC News. Retrieved 22 July 2025.
- ^ Irvine, Lindesay (10 April 2008). "Another honour for JK Rowling". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 July 2025.
- ^ "No. 63918". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2022. p. N24.
