Mick Manning

Mick Manning (born 1959) is a British children's author and illustrator, who has written and illustrated some 65 books.

Biography

Born in 1959 and brought up in Haworth, near Bradford, Yorkshire, England, Manning went to school in Keighley and then studied at Bradford College. He studied illustration and graphic design at Newcastle Polytechnic (now the University of Northumbria) 1979 - 82 and then illustration and animation at the Royal College of Art London 1984-87 . Later he devised and ran the BA honours Illustration option at the Glasgow School of Art while maintaining a freelance career. In 1998 he resigned to concentrate on writing and illustrating children's books full-time. British artist-illustrators Xavier Pick, Helen Stephens and Mark Hearld number among his ex-students. Manning's first book A Ruined House was chosen by Quentin Blake in The Laureate's Party (Red Fox) as one of his personal top 50 children's books of all time. Manning is known for his collaborations as author and co-illustrator with partner Brita Granström. Books from their young non-fiction series "Wonderwise" won the TES, Silver Smarties and English Association Awards and were also shortlisted for the Royal Society Science Book Prizes (then called The Rhone Poulenc) on three occasions. They won The English Association award again in 2005 with Voices of the Rainforest and again in 2008 with Greek Hero. Their book Yuck! is referenced in the Mike Leigh film Happy Go Lucky. Tail End Charlie, a picture book about his father's Second World War experience as an RAF air gunner during 1944 was shortlisted for, and televised on, the Blue Peter Book Awards 2010. It was also shortlisted for the ALCS Award and was nominated for the Carnegie Medal 2010. Manning is a direct descendant of 18th Century Italian artist Bonifacio Musso, and Musso's London-born son Charles Muss who was himself, among many other things, a British illustrator. In 2011 Mick and Brita won a fourth English Association Award with the follow up to Tail-End Charlie; Taff in the WAAF a fascinating book about his mother's war including her experiences as a Chicksands 'Y' station listener for Bletchley Park. In 2011 he was elected a Fellow of The English Association.

Manning's other children's non fiction picture books include science titles such as: How Did I Begin? (this book looks at the amazing development of a human baby from fertilised egg to birth and was shortlisted for the Rhone Poulenc Prize in 1996) Woolly Mammoth (with the NHM, London), Dino Dinners (with the NHM, London), Nature Adventures and 'What Mr Darwin Saw, (this book about the life of Charles Darwin and his discoveries was shortlisted for the Royal Society's science book prize in 2011.)

Kid Stuff: New for Children", The Vindicator, 21 June 1998, p. A18, retrieved 2011-07-18</ref>^[1][2]

Selected recent bibliography

• 2007 - Greek Hero (Frances Lincoln, 0711222711) Winner of the English Association Award 2008
• 2008 - Tail-End Charlie (Frances Lincoln)
• 2009 - What Mr. Darwin Saw (Frances Lincoln)
• 2009 - The Planet Patrol (Watts)
• 2010 - Taff in the WAAF (Janetta Otter-Barry Books)
• 2010 - My Uncle's Dunkirk (Watts)

See also

• Children's author
• Illustrator
• Brita Granstrom
• Quentin Blake

References

1. ^ Fraser, Lindsay (2001), "Dinosaurs and driving", guardian.co.uk, 22 May 2001, retrieved 2011-07-18
2. ^ Jones, Charlotte (2011) "Six top science books: From stars to snot - the shortlist for this year's Royal Society science book prize has it all", guardian.co.uk, 15 June 2011, retrieved 2011-07-18

External links

• Official Web Site
• Royal College of Art
• Mick Manning at The Watts Publishing Group
• Xavier Pick

Persondata
Name	Manning, Mick
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Date of birth	1959
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