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Geraldine McCaughreanGeraldine McCaughrean
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Bibliography |
Prizes and awards |
Critical perspective
BiographyGeraldine McCaughrean was born in 1951 and brought up in North London. She studied at Christ Church College of Education, Canterbury and worked in a London publishing house for 10 years before becoming a full-time writer in 1988. She has written over 120 books, 50 short plays for schools, and a radio play.
Her adult novels include Fires’ Astonishment (1990) and The Ideal Wife (1997), but she is best-known for her children’s books. She writes for children of all ages, from first readers, picture books, and younger children’s books, to children’s novels, which include A Little Lower than the Angels (1987), Gold Dust (1993) and Not the End of the World (2004), each of which have won the Whitbread Children’s Book Award, making her the only writer to have won this award three times.
Geraldine McCaughrean has also written several collections of stories, including bible stories and fairy tales. She specialises in the retelling of classic tales such as The Canterbury Tales (1984), The Odyssey (1993), Moby Dick (1996) and El Cid (1989) and of myths and legends from around the world. These books include The Orchard Book of Greek Myths (1992) and The Orchard Book of Roman Myths (1999).
Geraldine McCaughrean lives in Berkshire. Her book, Not the End of the World, is currently being adapted for the stage. White Darkness (2005), was shortlisted for the 2005 Whitbread Children's Book Award. In 2005, she was chosen to write the official sequel to J. M. Barrie's Peter Pan. Peter Pan in Scarlet was published in 2006.
Genres (in alphabetical order)Children, Fiction
BibliographyOne Thousand and One Arabian Nights (illustrated by Stephen Lavis) Oxford University Press, 1982 The Canterbury Tales (illustrated by Victor Ambrus) Oxford University Press, 1984 A Little Lower Than The Angels Oxford University Press, 1987 A Pack of Lies Oxford University Press, 1988 El Cid (illustrated by Victor Ambrus) Oxford University Press, 1989 My First Earth Book Crocodile, 1989 My First Space Book Crocodile, 1989 Saint George and the Dragon (illlustrated by Nicki Palin) Oxford University Press, 1989 The Story of Christmas Templar, 1989 The Story of Noah and the Ark Templar, 1989 Fires' Astonishment Secker & Warburg, 1990 The Maypole Secker & Warburg, 1990 The Cherry Tree Oxford University Press, 1991 The Princess and the Moon Oxford University Press, 1991 The Snow Country Princess Oxford University Press, 1991 Vainglory Cape, 1991 Over the Deep Blue Sea Oxford University Press, 1992 The Orchard Book of Greek Myths (illustrated by Emma Chichester Clark) Orchard Children's Books, 1992 Gold Dust Oxford University Press, 1993 The Odyssey (illustrated by Victor Ambrus) Oxford University Press, 1993 Baabra Lamb (illustrated by Colin Smithson) Longman, 1994 Blue Moo (illustrated by Colin Smithson) Longman, 1994 Blue Mountain Golden, 1994 Good Dog (illustrated by Colin Smithson) Longman, 1994 Gregorie Peck (illustrated by Colin Smithson) Longman, 1994 Stories from Shakespeare (illustrated by A. Maitland) Orion Children's Books, 1994 The Orchard Book of Stories from the Ballet Orchard Children's Books, 1994 Cowboy Jess (illustrated by Lizzie Sanders) Orion Children's Books, 1995 Little Angel (illustrated by Ian Beck) Orchard, 1995 Myths and Legends of the World: The Golden Hoard (illustrated by Bee Willey) Orion Children's Books, 1995 On the Day the World Began (illustrated by Norman Bancroft-Hunt) Longman, 1995 The Quest of Isis (illustrated by David Sim) Longman, 1995 Wizziwig and the Crazy Cooker (illustrated by Wendy Smith) Orchard Children's Books, 1995 Wizziwig and the Singing Car (illustrated by Wendy Smith) Orchard Children's Books, 1995 Wizziwig and the Sweet Machine (illustrated by Wendy Smith) Orchard Children's Books, 1995 Wizziwig and the Weather Machine (illustrated by Wendy Smith) Orchard Children's Books, 1995 Cowboy Jess Saddles Up Orion Children's Books, 1996 King Arthur and the Round Table (illustrated by Alan Marks) Macdonald Young Books, 1996 Lovesong Richard Cohen Books, 1996 Moby Dick (illustrated by Victor Ambrus) Oxford University Press, 1996 Myths and Legends of the World: The Silver Treasure (illustrated by Bee Willey) Orion Children's Books, 1996 Plundering Paradise Oxford University Press, 1996 Daedalus and Icarus Orchard, 1997 Forever X Oxford University Press, 1997 God's People: Stories from the Old Testament (illustrated by Anna Cheplar) Orion Children's Books, 1997 Jason and the Golden Fleece Orchard, 1997 Myths and Legends of the World: The Bronze Cauldron (illustrated by Bee Willey) Orion Children's Books, 1997 Persephone and the Pomegranate Seeds Orchard, 1997 Perseus and the Gorgon Medusa Orchard, 1997 Princess Stories (illustrated by Lizzie Sanders) Picture Corgi, 1997 The Adventures of Odysseus (illustrated by Tony Ross) Orchard, 1997 The Adventures of Odysseus Orchard, 1997 The Ideal Wife Richard Cohen Books, 1997 The Orchard Book of Greek Gods and Goddesses (illustrated by Emma Chichester Clark) Orchard Children's Books, 1997 The Twelve Labours of Heracles Orchard, 1997 The Wooden Horse Orchard, 1997 Theseus and the Minotaur Orchard, 1997 Unicorns! Unicorns! (illustrated by Sophie Windham) Orchard, 1997 Aesop's Fables (illustrated by Jonathan Hateley) Longman, 1998 Casting the Gods Adrift A & C Black, 1998 Hope On A Rope: an African Creation Myth (illustrated by Joanna Troughton) Longman, 1998 Myths and Legends of the World: The Crystal Pool (illustrated by Bee Willey) Orion Children's Books, 1998 Never Let Go (illustrated by Jason Cockroft) Hodder Children's Books, 1998 Noah and Nelly (illustrated by Anthony Lewis) Orchard Children's Books, 1998 The Orchard Book of Starry Tales (illustrated by Sophy Williams) Orchard Children's Books, 1998 A Sheepless Night (illustrated by Mike Spoor) Oxford Literacy Web, 1999 Beauty and the Beast (illustrated by Gary Blythe) Doubleday, 1999 Brave Magic (illustrated by Cathie Falstead) Hippo, 1999 Britannia: 100 Great Stories from British History (illustrated by Richard Brassey;) Orion Children's, 1999 God's Kingdom: Stories from the New Testament (illustrated by Anna Cheplar) Orion Children's Books, 1999 Golden Myths and Legends of the World Orion Children's Books, 1999 Pilgrim's Progress (illustrated by Jason Cockroft) Hodder Children's Books, 1999 Silver Myths and Legends of the World Dolphin, 1999 The Hay Cart (illustrated by Mike Spoor) Oxford Literacy Web, 1999 The Nutcracker (illustrated by Nicki Palin) Oxford University Press, 1999 The Orchard Book of Roman Myths (illustrated by Emma Chichester Clark) Orchard, 1999 The Stones are Hatching Oxford University Press, 1999 Too Big! (illustrated by Peter Bailey) Corgi Pups, 1999 What Am I For? (illustrated by Mike Spoor) Oxford Literacy Web, 1999 A Shot in the Dark Orchard, 2000 Always Elephant (illustrated by Sylvia Boschetti) Rigby Literacy (USA), 2000 Athena and the Olive Tree and Other Stories (illustrated by Tony Ross) Orchard, 2000 Burning the Books Orchard, 2000 City of Dreams Orchard, 2000 Grandma Chickenlegs (illustrated by Moira Kemp) Doubleday, 2000 Hermes Tricks the Gods Orchard, 2000 How The Reindeer Got Their Antlers (illustrated by Heather Holland) Orchard, 2000 My First Oxford Book of Stories (illustrated by Ruby Green) Oxford University Press, 2000 Phaeton and the Sun Chariot Orchard, 2000 Romulus and Remus Orchard, 2000 Tales of Robin Hood Pelican, 2000 The Orchard Book of Love and Friendship (illustrated by Jane Ray) Orchard Children's Books, 2000 Zeus Conquers the Titans Orchard, 2000 Cat and Rat Fall Out Ginn Lighthouse, 2001 Daredevils and Desperadoes: 20 Stories from British History (illustrated by Richard Brassey) Dolphin, 2001 Ghosts, Rogues and Highwaymen: 20 Stories from British History (illustrated by Richard Brassey) Dolphin, 2001 Knights, Kings and Conquerors: 20 Stories from British History (illustrated by Richard Brassey) Dolphin, 2001 Movers, Shakers and Record Breakers: 20 Stories from British History (illustrated by Richard Brassey) Dolphin, 2001 Pioneers at Piano Ridge (illustrated by Chris Molan) Oxford University Press, 2001 Rebels and Royals: 20 Stories from British History (illustrated by Richard Brassey) Dolphin, 2001 Stop The Train Oxford University Press, 2001 The Kite Rider Oxford University Press, 2001 World Myths and Legends (illustrated by Bee Willey; originally published as 'Myths and Legends of the World: The Golden Hoard, The Silver Treasure, The Crystal Pool, The Bronze Cauldron') Orion, 2001 Bright Penny (illustrated by Paul Howard) Viking, 2002 Gilgamesh - the Hero (illustrated by David Parkins) Oxford Unviersity Press, 2002 My Grandmother's Clock (illustrated by Stephen Lambert) Collins Children's Books, 2002 Six Storey House (illustrated by Ross Collins) Hodder Children's Books, 2002 The Greeks on Stage: 25 Plays from Greek Myths (illustrated by Richard Brassey) Orion Children's Books, 2002 Dancing the Night Away (illustrated by Carolyn King) Oxford University Press, 2003 Doctor Quack (illustrated by Ross Collins) Hodder Children's Books, 2003 Dog Days Hodder Children's Books, 2003 Hercules Orion Children's Books, 2003 Jalopy (illustrated by Ross Collins) Orchard Children's Books, 2003 Odysseus Orion Children's Books, 2003 Oxford Treasury of Fairy Tales (illustrated by Sophy Williams) Oxford University Press, 2003 Perseus Oxford University Press, 2003 Show Stopper! Oxford University Press, 2003 The Jesse Tree (illustrated by Bee Willey) Lion, 2003 Theseus Orion Children's Books, 2003 Not the End of the World Oxford University Press, 2004 Questing Knights of the Faerie Queen Hodder, 2004 Sky Ships and Other Stories A & C Black, 2004 Smile! Oxford University Press, 2004 Mo Hodder Children's Books, 2005 The White Darkness Oxford University Press, 2005 Wenceslas Hodder Children's Books, 2005 Blue Moon Mountain (illustrated by Nicki Palin) Templar, 2006 Cyrano Oxford University Press, 2006 Doctor Faustus Oxford University Press, 2006 Father and Son (illustrated by Fabian Negrin) Hodder Children's Books, 2006 Peter Pan in Scarlet Oxford University Press, 2006 The Longest Story in the World Oxford University Press, 2006 Greek Heroes Oxford University Press, 2007 King Arthur and the Round Table (illustrated by Alan Marks) Corgi Children's Books, 2007 Magical Princess Stories (contributor) Orchard Children's Books, 2009 The Death Defying Pepper Roux Oxford University Press, 2009
Prizes and awards1987 Whitbread Children's Book Award A Little Lower Than The Angels 1988 Carnegie Medal A Pack of Lies 1988 Guardian Children's Fiction Prize A Pack of Lies 1991 Catholischen Kinderbuchpreis (Germany) Gabriel und der Meisterspieler/A Little Lower Than The Angels 1994 Whitbread Children's Book Award Gold Dust 1996 Nestlé Smarties Book Prize (Bronze Award) Plundering Paradise 1997 Whitbread Children's Book Award (shortlist) Plundering Paradise 1998 Carnegie Medal (shortlist) Forever X 1998 UK Reading Association Children's Book Award Forever X 1999 English 4-11 Award for the Best Children's Picture Books (shortlist) Beauty and the Beast 1999 Newsweek Best Picture Book for Children (USA) Grandma Chickenlegs 2000 Blue Peter Book of the Year Award Pilgrim's Progress 2000 Independent Publisher Book Award (Children's Picture Book) (USA) Grandma Chickenlegs 2001 Angus Book Award (shortlist) The Kite Rider 2001 Blue Peter Book Award: Best Book to Keep Forever The Kite Rider 2001 Carnegie Medal (shortlist) The Kite Rider 2001 Carnegie Medal (highly commended) Stop The Train 2001 Nestlé Smarties Book Prize (Bronze Award) The Kite Rider 2002 Blue Peter Book Award: Best Book to Read Aloud (shortlist) Grandma Chickenlegs 2002 Blue Peter Book Award: Best Book with Facts (shortlist) Britannia: 100 Great Stories from British History 2002 Nestlé Smarties Book Prize (Bronze Award) Stop The Train 2003 American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults Award The Kite Rider 2004 American Library Association Notable Book for Children Award Stop The Train 2004 Whitbread Children's Book Award Not the End of the World 2004 Nestlé Smarties Book Prize (Bronze Award) Smile! 2005 Whitbread Children's Book Award (shortlist) The White Darkness 2006 Carnegie Medal (shortlist) The White Darkness 2007 British Book Awards Children's Book of the Year (shortlist) Peter Pan in Scarlet
Critical PerspectiveSince 2005, when Geraldine McCaughrean (pronounced 'Ma - cork - run') was chosen to write the authorized sequel to J.M. Barrie’s classic novel, her name has been associated with Peter Pan (her sequel, Peter Pan in Scarlet, was published to critical acclaim in 2006). She is, however, a long-established and award-winning author who has written well over 100 books since the early 1980s, most of which are children’s books, ranging from picture books to novels for older children.
McCaughrean does not write ‘typical’ contemporary books - her novels often have historical settings or take place in different cultures (The White Darkness, 2005, is set mainly in Antarctica). She therefore encourages her readers to expand their horizons and explore far beyond their familiar environment. Moreover, her use of language - rich, eloquent and full of vivid metaphors - requires the child-reader to work quite hard, while offering a rewarding, thought-provoking experience to those who make the effort. McCaughrean is particularly interested in Biblical, mythical and legendary stories, and is the author of many re-tellings of these traditional tales, from Greek myths to Noah’s Ark to Shakespeare and Chaucer. As such, she takes stories which would otherwise be obscure and uninviting to young readers, and makes them enjoyable, accessible and sometimes humorous. She also uses these classic stories to explore fundamental and timeless issues of human experience.
McCaughrean’s first publication for children was One Thousand and One Arabian Nights (1982), followed by The Canterbury Tales (1984). At this point her editor suggested a novel, and the result was A Little Lower Than The Angels (1987), which won the Whitbread Children’s Book Award. McCaughrean went on to win two more Whitbread Awards, for Gold Dust (1993) and Not the End of the World (2004). She is the first writer to have received this award three times. A Little Lower than the Angels, unusually for a children’s book, is set in the Middle Ages. It tells the story of a little boy, Gabriel, a cruelly-treated apprentice who escapes his oppressive life by running away with a troupe of travelling players, led by the playmaster Garvey. He becomes the angel in Garvey’s play, but still finds himself at the mercy of exploitative adults: Garvey uses Gabriel to perform fake miracles, and the little boy begins to wonder if he really is the angel Gabriel. McCaughrean sensitively depicts the contrast between the adults’ unscrupulousness and Gabriel’s innocence and heart-felt faith in God, qualities which enable others to abuse him, yet, at the same time, protect him from the corrupt environment which surrounds him. The ending - in which Gabriel asks the inhabitants of a monastery to help him write down Garvey’s plays so that others might enjoy them - is uplifting, without being ‘twee’ or sentimental.
Since the late 1980s, McCaughrean has been a prolific writer, averaging several books per year. Equally incredible is her diversity: her titles include El Cid (1989); My First Space Book (1989); Gold Dust (1993); Stories from Shakespeare (1994); Wizziwig and the Crazy Cooker (1995); Moby Dick (1996) and many more. McCaughrean continually returns to Biblical and classic tales: her third Whitbread award was for Not the End of the World (2004), a highly original re-telling of the story of Noah’s Ark. Not the End of the World is quite a dark tale, exploring in acute and sometimes horrifying detail the realities of the experience. We witness the heart-rending pleas of the people who are left behind to drown, and the pain of Noah’s daughter-in-law who has been parted from her family; the killing of a new baby granddaughter by one of the animals; the physical horrors of hunger, stench and a leaking Ark. The narrative is even interspersed with the point-of-view of some of the animals.
Most particularly, McCaughrean emphasizes and identifies with the female experience. Each of Noah’s three sons has a wife, while in McCaughrean’s version, Noah also has a daughter, fourteen year-old Timna. Timna is the central narrator, enabling McCaughrean not only to present the female point-of-view, but to provide readers with an ‘inside’ and human perspective on these well-known figures whose story is usually told in detached, mythical terms. Through Timna, the narrative focuses particularly on patriarchal oppression, as Noah and his eldest son are shown to rule the family through fear and rigid religious doctrine. As Diane Samuels points out: ‘Its grand design seems to be to question patriarchal values and fundamentalist attitudes by revealing the underbelly of human experience, located especially in the women’ (The Guardian, 18 December 2004).
In the same year, McCaughrean also wrote Smile! (2004), which won a Nestlé Smarties Book Prize. This novel, like Not the End of the World, explores a lifestyle and cultural attitudes very different from those with which readers will be familiar. However, rather than a historical setting, Smile! takes place in today’s world, but in an unfamiliar environment. The protagonist, Flash, is stranded in an isolated, primitive village after a plane crash, possessing only a Polaroid camera with 10 remaining pictures. As he learns to communicate with the villagers, and shows them what the camera does, he asks them to choose the subjects for his last 10 photographs. Flash realizes the power of photography to preserve a moment, while simultaneously beginning to understand that the mindset of these people is vastly different to his own, yet no less valid. For example, he is repulsed by the village’s most ‘beautiful’ woman, only to find that the villagers have the same reaction to a photo of his own ‘beautiful’ wife. McCaughrean’s humour therefore encourages readers to examine the subjectivity of their own Western attitudes and perceptions, and to appreciate cultures other than their own.
McCaughrean’s greatest challenge, however, was Peter Pan in Scarlet (2006). She discusses her feelings about the much-hyped Peter Pan sequel in her article in The Guardian, ‘Boy Wonder’ (30 September 2006). She was all too aware of the delicacy of her task, for Barrie’s novel (which started out as a play) is not only an all-time classic, but is one of various early 20th-century children’s books which helped to create an emotionally powerful view of childhood:
'Thanks to Arthur Ransome, Enid Blyton and J.M. Barrie, a kind of archetypal idyllic childhood has evolved in the minds of parents ... Neverland is the place every parent wishes their child to go - somewhere they can explore the outer reaches of their imaginations, dare the dares, feel the fear, conquer the foe - and then come in for tea or a sticking plaster. Parents are so horribly contradictory.' (McCaughrean in The Guardian, cited above)
McCaughrean undertook meticulous preparation, both with regard to researching Barrie and his life, and becoming thoroughly familiar with the style and content of the original novel: ‘Not ... the Disney version or the pantomime or the last movie, but... the 1911 book ... I tried to soak up something of Barrie’s style and sense of humour and quirky asides to the adult reader’ (ibid). She also retains the ambiguity of the character of Peter Pan, for, despite the Disney versions, the original Peter had a certain imp-like arrogance and callousness.
Yet McCaughrean was also careful not to try too hard to duplicate Barrie’s work, and added her own mark to Peter Pan in Scarlet. The end result, which she describes as ‘the matching bookend - same world, but somewhat reversed’ (ibid), has been an astounding success, both critically and commercially, and is a testimony to McCaughrean’s multi-faceted talent:
'From the very first page, only the most stony-hearted, dyed-in-the-wool Peter Pan fan could fail to be charmed by Geraldine McCaughrean’s lightness of touch, sureness of writing and sparkling imagination ... What McCaughrean has done is nothing short of miraculous. It’s enough to make you believe in fairies.' (‘Return to Neverland’, Philip Ardaugh, 7 October 2006)
Elizabeth O’Reilly, 2007
Author statementI write for much the same reasons as I did when I was a child of eight, forever scribbling stories in an exercise book for no-one's benefit but my own: I like to go somewhere else and become someone else. Most of my central characters lack confidence but overcome their timidity or low self-esteem to win through in the end, so I suppose there is a kind of wish-fulfilment at work. The one thing that makes writing a better pastime than reading is that you can make things turn out the way you want in the end! I like working in children's books, because it gives rise to such a variety of jobs. One month it may be a picture book, the next a retelling, the next a play, a short story or the start of the next novel. I still keep thinking someone will penetrate my guilty secret - that I have been masquerading as a writer all these years while all I was really doing was enjoying myself, pursuing my passion.
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