British Children's Author - Graham Oakley

Graham Oakley was not on my list of British Children's Authors. That really doesn't mean anything other than I just didn't think about him or realize that I should have him on my list.

As we were reading through the books on the CE Loop we read Church Mice. Just reading the book and looking at the illustrations I could tell it was another author to add to my British Children's Authors.

Here is a bit about him from his website. 

Graham Oakley, one of the UK's best -loved children’s illustrators and authors grew up near the Shropshire town of Shrewsbury. He worked for many years as a set designer in rep before moving to the Royal Opera House. Eventually he moved to the BBC to work  on costume dramas, leaving in 1977 to pursue his passion for illustration.

At about the same time he began converting an old mill in deepest Wiltshire. His close neighbours and indeed the mill’s longest residents, the mice, quickly gave him the idea for a series of books.

Graham Oakley’s Church Mice series have become classics of children’s literature, winning many awards. Quite a few are still in print today. Graham Oakley still writes and illustrates  books though he has now left the old mill and its residents. He now draws and paints in his home by the sea in the little town of Lyme Regis in Dorset. 

We enjoyed the first book and now I need to get more from the library. We didn't do many other activities with this author.

I love the fact that mice inspired his book. They must have been cute mice most of the mice that I have found in my house do not inspire me to write books rather they inspire me to clean and get traps.

What animals inspire you to write books?

The other authors that we have studied include:

J.R.R. Tolkien
Beatrix Potter
A.A. Milne
C.S. Lewis

Beth