{{short description|Writer and illustrator of children's books}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2015}} {{Use British English|date=August 2015}} {{Infobox writer |name = Colin Thompson |image = Colin Thompson.jpg |birth_name = Colin Edward Willment |birth_date = {{birth date and age|1942|10|18|df=yes}} |birth_place = [[Ealing]], [[Middlesex]], UK |occupation = Writer, illustrator |nationality = British, Australian |period = 1990–present |genre = [[Children's books]], [[poetry]], [[young adult novel]]s, [[picture books]] }}
'''Colin Edward Thompson''' (born 18 October 1942) is an English-Australian writer and illustrator of children's books. He has had over 70 works published and also draws pictures for [[Jigsaw puzzle|jigsaw puzzles]]. In 2004, Thompson was awarded the [[Aurealis Award for best children's fiction (told primarily through words)|Aurealis Award]] in the children's long fiction category for his novel ''How to Live Forever''.
==Early life and careers== Colin Edward Thompson was born on 18 October 1942 in [[Ealing]], then in [[Middlesex]] and now in west [[London]], [[United Kingdom]]. His mother changed his surname to Thompson when she remarried in 1953.{{citation needed|date=June 2019}} Thompson states that he only met his father once, when he was nineteen. Thompson attended boarding school in Yorkshire and later a grammar school in West London.<ref name = CT/>
Thompson studied art for two years at college in Ealing and Hammersmith, where he met his first wife. He worked as a silk-screen printer and a graphic designer for a while, before attending [[London Film School]] and working on documentaries for the BBC. After a divorce, he married a second time and after living briefly in [[Mallorca]] in 1968, moved to the [[Outer Hebrides]]. He and his wife set up a business as ceramicists, continuing the profession after moving to [[Cumbria]] in 1975. Thompson has one daughter from his first marriage and two from his second. He moved to Australia in 1995 and gained Australian citizenship. In 1999 he married Anne, an Australian librarian who had arranged for him to visit a Sydney school.<ref name = CT/>
==Writing and illustration career== Thompson's career as a writer and illustrator began quite late in his life. He first took black-and-white illustrations to a publisher in 1990, assuming a story would be written by someone else to go with his images. He was, however, instructed to write the story himself and re-do his illustrations in colour. His first picture book was published in 1991, Ethel the Chicken.<ref name = CT2/> As of 2015, he has had over 70 books published. Many of them are books for children and are self-illustrated. He has also published a few series of novels for pre-teens and young adults.
Thompson's detailed, whimsical, colourful illustrations are popular as jigsaw puzzles and cross stitch kits with many of his works featured in jigsaws by [[Ravensburger]] and cross stitch kits by GeckoRouge.<ref name = ravensburger/>
== Awards == Colin Thompson's first literary recognition came in 1995 when ''Ruby'' was awarded the English 4–11 Picture Book Award by the [[English Association]].<ref name = 4-11/>
In 1999 ''Staircase Cat'' was shortlisted in the picture book category for the [[Children's Book of the Year Award: Picture Book|Children's Book of the Year Award]] by the [[Children's Book Council of Australia]]. In the following years, Thompson had success in this category four more times, winning the award for best picture book in 2006 with ''The Short and Incredibly Happy Life of Riley''.<ref name = cbca2006/> His titles that were finalists in other years are ''The Violin Man'', ''Dust'', and ''The Big Little Book of Happy Sadness'', in 2004, 2008, and 2009 respectively.<ref name= cbca2006/><ref name = cbca2008/><ref name = cbca2009/>
In 2004, Thompson's novel ''How to Live Forever'' was awarded the [[Aurealis Award]] in the children's long fiction category. ''The Floods Family Files'' was a finalist in the best graphic novel category in 2008.<ref name = aurealis/> Thompson was added to the [[International Board on Books for Young People]] honour list in 2002 for his illustrations in ''Falling Angels''.<ref name = ibby/>
''Castles'' was awarded the [[Hampshire Book Awards|Hampshire Illustrated Book Award]] in 2007.<ref name = hampshire/>
==Publications== {{col-begin}} {{col-2}}
===Children's stories=== '''Picture books (self-illustrated)''' # ''Ethel the Chicken'' (1991) # ''A Giant Called Norman Mary'' (1991) # ''The Paper Bag Prince'' (1992) # ''Pictures of Home'' (1993) # ''Looking for Atlantis'' (1993) # ''Sid the Mosquito and Other Wild Stories'' (1993) # ''Ruby'' (1994) # ''Attila the Bluebottle and More Wild Stories'' (1995) # ''How to Live Forever'' (1996) # ''Venus the Caterpillar and Further Wild Stories'' (1996) # ''The Haunted Suitcase and Other Stories'' (1996) # ''The Tower to the Sun'' (1996) # ''Castle Twilight and Other Stories'' (1997) # ''The Paradise Garden'' (1998) # ''The Last Alchemist'' (1999) # ''Falling Angels'' (2001) # ''Violin Man'' (2003) # ''Castles'' (2006) # ''Sometimes Love is Under Your Foot'' (2008) # ''The Big Little Book of Happy Sadness'' (2008) # ''Wild Stories'' (2009) (contains previously published material) # ''Free to a Good Home'' (2009) # ''The Naughty Corner'' (2011) # ''Barry'' (2011)
'''Picture books''' # ''Sailing Home'' (1996) (with illustrator Matt Ottley) # ''The Last Circus'' (1997) (with illustrator Kim Gamble) # ''The Staircase Cat'' (1998) (with illustrator Anna Pignataro) # ''The Puzzle Duck'' (1999) (with illustrator Emma Quay) # ''Unknown'' (2000) (with illustrator Anna Pignataro) # ''The Last Clown'' (2001) (with illustrator Penelope Gamble) # ''No Place Like Home'' (2001) (with illustrator Anna Pignataro) # ''One Big Happy Family'' (2002) (with illustrator Karen Carter) # ''Round and Round and Round and Round'' (2002) (with illustrator Penelope Gamble) # ''Gilbert'' (2003) (with illustrator Chris Mould) # ''The Great Montefiasco'' (2005) (with illustrator Ben Redlich) # ''The Short and Incredibly Happy Life of Riley'' (2005) (with illustrator Amy Lissiat) # ''Gilbert Goes Outside'' (2005) (with illustrator Chris Mould) # ''Norman and Brenda'' (2006) (with illustrator Amy Lissiat) # ''Dust'' (2007) (with thirteen illustrators) # ''Fearless'' (2009) (with illustrator Sarah Davis) # ''The Bicycle'' (2011) (with fifteen illustrators) # ''Fearless in Love'' (2012) (with illustrator Sarah Davis) # ''Fearless: Sons and Daughter'' (2015) (with illustrator Sarah Davis)
{{col-2}} '''Children's poetry''' #''The Dog's Been Sick in the Honda'' (1999) (with illustrator Peter Viska) (revised in 2000 as ''Fish Are So Stupid'' with illustrator Chris Mould) #''My Brother Drinks out of the Toilet'' (2000) (with illustrator Peter Viska) #''There's Something Really Nasty on the Bottom of My Shoe'' (2003) (with illustrator Peter Viska)
===Young adult fiction=== '''Novels''' # ''Castle Twilight'' (1997) # ''Future Eden'' (1999) # ''Pepper Dreams'' (2003) # ''How to Live Forever'' (2004) (based on Thompson's picture book of same title) # ''Future Eden 2: Space: the Final Effrontery'' (2005) # ''The Second Forever'' (2012)
'''The Floods series''' # ''Neighbours'' (2005) # ''Playschool'' (2006) # ''Home and Away'' (2006) # ''Survivor'' (2007) # ''Prime Suspect'' (2007) # ''The Great Outdoors'' (2008) # ''Top Gear'' (2008) # ''Better Homes and Gardens'' (2009) # ''Who Wants to Be a Billionaire'' (2010) # ''Lost'' (2011) # ''Disasterchef'' (2012) # ''Bewitched'' (2013) # ''The Royal Family'' (2014) # ''The Floods Family Files'' (2007) # ''The Amazing Illustrated Floodsopedia'' (2012)
'''The Dragons series''' # ''Camelot'' (2009) # ''Excalibur'' (2010) # ''Mordred'' (2011)
'''Watch This Space series''' # ''Out to Launch'' (2015)
===Fiction=== # ''Laughing for Beginners'' (2002)
{{col-end}}
==References== {{Reflist|30em|refs= <ref name = CT>{{Cite web |title = Biography |work = Colin Thompson – Author and Illustrator |url = http://www.colinthompson.com/page7.htm | publisher = www.colinthompson.com| accessdate = 2015-08-27}}</ref>
<ref name = CT2>{{Cite web |title = Working methods |work = Colin Thompson – Author and Illustrator |url = http://www.colinthompson.com/page5.htm |publisher = www.colinthompson.com | accessdate = 2015-08-27}}</ref>
<ref name = ravensburger>{{Cite web |title = Jigsaw puzzles by Colin Thompson |work = Characters and themes |url = https://www.ravensburger.com/uk/characters-themes/colin-thompson/index.html |publisher = www.ravensburger.com |accessdate = 2015-08-27 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150623173046/http://www.ravensburger.com/uk/characters-themes/colin-thompson/index.html |archive-date = 23 June 2015 |url-status = dead }}</ref>
<ref name = 4-11>{{Cite web |title = 1995 Awards |work = English 4–11 Book Awards for the Best Books of 1994 — University of Leicester |url = https://www2.le.ac.uk/offices/english-association/primary/english-4-11-book-awards/1995-awards |publisher = www2.le.ac.uk |accessdate = 2015-08-27 |archive-date = 9 March 2016 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160309022650/https://www2.le.ac.uk/offices/english-association/primary/english-4-11-book-awards/1995-awards |url-status = dead }}</ref>
<ref name=cbca2006>{{Cite web |title=CBCA Winners: 2000 – 2006 |work=Children's Book of the Year Awards |url=http://cbca.org.au/2009.htm |publisher=cbca.org.au |accessdate=2015-08-27 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100105155208/http://cbca.org.au/2009.htm |archivedate=5 January 2010 |df=dmy }}</ref>
<ref name = cbca2008>{{Cite web |title = CBCA Winners: 2008 |work = Children's Book of the Year Awards |url = http://cbca.org.au/winners08.htm |publisher = cbca.org.au |accessdate = 2015-08-27 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150822003831/http://cbca.org.au/winners08.htm |archive-date = 22 August 2015 |url-status = dead }}</ref>
<ref name=cbca2009>{{Cite web |title = CBCA Winners: 2009 |work = Children's Book of the Year Awards |url = http://cbca.org.au/winners2009.htm |publisher = cbca.org.au |accessdate = 2015-08-27 |url-status = dead |archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20150822003836/http://cbca.org.au/winners2009.htm |archivedate = 22 August 2015 |df = dmy-all }}</ref>
<ref name = aurealis>{{Cite web |title = Finalists and winners |work = Aurealis Awards |url = http://aurealisawards.org/finalists-and-winners/ |publisher = www.aurealisawards.org | accessdate = 2015-08-27}}</ref>
<ref name = ibby>{{Cite web |title = 2002 Honour List |work = International Board on Books for Young People |url = http://www.ibby.org/282.0.html |publisher = www.ibby.org |accessdate = 2015-08-27 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150920180044/http://www.ibby.org/282.0.html |archive-date = 20 September 2015 |url-status = dead }}</ref>
<ref name = hampshire>{{Cite web |title = Hampshire Illustrated Book Award |url = http://www3.hants.gov.uk/sls/sls-reading/illustrated-book-award.htm |website = www3.hants.gov.uk |accessdate = 2015-08-27 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150311142307/http://www3.hants.gov.uk/sls/sls-reading/illustrated-book-award.htm |archive-date = 11 March 2015 |url-status = dead }}</ref> }}
== External links == *{{ISFDB name|id=Colin_Thompson|name=Colin Thompson}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Colin}} [[Category:English children's writers]] [[Category:English science fiction writers]] [[Category:1942 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:People from Ealing]] [[Category:Writers from the London Borough of Ealing]]