Famous Author : Martin Waddell

Born 10th April 1941 during a bombing raid on Belfast, children’s author Martin Waddell is a prolific children’s writer.

His books for younger children, which he said are written for pure enjoyment and amusement, have won some prestigus awards such as the Smarties Book Prize (Farmer Duck & Can't You Sleep, Little Bear?). He has also won the British Book Award’s Children’s illustrated Book of the Year, Best Babies Book of the Year, the Kurt Maschler Award and the Hans Christian Anderson Award in recognition of his contribution to children’s literature, to name but a few.

His hugely successful Big Bear, Little Bear series are loved by children around the world, as are many other titles, and his experience as a footballer in his youth have been translated into books such as the Napper series. Waddell also enjoys writing about ghosts, as he says not only are they fun they can also show how the past can affect the future. Father to grown-up children, Martin lives with his wife in their home by the sea where he writes and describes himself as ‘a happy man’.