Thomas Taylor

Thomas Taylor was born in 1973, and grew up in Wales. When he was small he liked sledging, Doctor Who, straining to be telekinetic, collecting and racing snails, building igloos (that’s how cool Wales can be), Star Wars, hunting the cat, roaming too far from home and hoping for helicopters, conker fights, and a place called Tenby Beach. He went to the Norwich School of Art and Design, then he spent three years at art school in Cambridge which was even better, because there he discovered that he could actually get paid to work on children’s books! Almost a year after finishing his education, Bloomsbury Publishing offered him a book cover to do. His first professional commission! It was a bit nerve-wracking, but fortunately — since it was the cover art for a first book by an unknown author — he hoped probably no one would notice if he made a mess of it. Thing is though, that author’s name was J. K. Rowling. And, er… people did notice. He concentrated on illustrating picture books for younger children, and was eventually writing them too. This was lots of fun, but he soon found that writing was more than just fun – it was actually what he really wanted to do. And suddenly not being telekinetic or able to see ghosts or ever being rescued by a helicopter didn’t matter, not when he could make it all real in stories. Anything can be real in stories.