Jenny Nimmo

Jenny Nimmo was born in Berkshire, but has lived in a converted watermill in Wales for the past thirty four years. Her husband is a painter and printmaker and they have three children and three grandchildren. She has worked in the theatre, in television and as a governess in Italy.

For as long as she can remember, Jenny has loved books. She was six when she went to boarding school and reading was a wonderful escape, it allowed her to believe that she was somewhere else. She begn to write her own stories when she was ten. She cannot help using magic in her work because myths legends and fairy-tales were her favourite reading as a child, and they have remained at the back of her mind ever since.

In 1986 her book ‘The Snow Spider’ won the Smarties Grand Prix and, in 1987, was awarded the Tir na n’Og by the Welsh Arts Council. ‘The Rinaldi Ring’ was chosen as Guardian Book of the Week, and was shortlisted for the Carnegie medal, for which she received a commendation.Five of Jenny’s eight books about Charlie Bone in ‘The Children of the Red King’ series were on the New York Times bestseller list, and she has now completed ‘The Secret Kingdom Trilogy’ a prequel to the Charlie Bone Books..