Emily Gravett facts for kids

Emily Gravett (born in 1972) is a talented English author and illustrator. She is famous for creating wonderful children's picture books. Her first book, Wolves, came out in 2005. Three years later, she published Little Mouse's Big Book of Fears. Both books won the special Kate Greenaway Medal. This award celebrates the best-illustrated British children's book each year.

About Emily Gravett's Life

Emily Gravett was born in Brighton, England. Her dad was a printmaker, and her mom was an art teacher. After her parents separated, Emily lived with her mom. However, she often went drawing in museums with her dad.

Emily left school at 16. She only had one qualification, a top grade in Art. For eight years, she traveled around Great Britain. She lived in different vehicles and met her partner, Mik.

By 1997, Emily and Mik settled in Wales. They had a daughter named Oleander, also known as Olly.

Emily realized she wanted a career. Drawing was her best skill. So, she started an art course. In 2001, her family moved back to Brighton. Even without many qualifications, she got an interview for an illustration degree at the local university. She started her studies that September and finished three years later.

After raising her daughter in Brighton, Emily and her partner moved to the countryside in Wales in 2023.

Emily Gravett's Creative Career

While she was a student, Emily entered a school project into the Macmillan Prize for Children's Illustration. This is a yearly award for art students. She received a "Highly Commended" award that year. In her final year, she won the prize! She entered two books, and the judges ranked them first and second.

This win led to a contract to publish Wolves with Macmillan Children's Books. The editor said Emily's book was almost ready to publish. She was not just an artist but also a bookbinder. Two years after graduating, she won the Kate Greenaway Medal for Wolves. This award recognized it as the best-illustrated children's book published in the UK in 2005. By then, her book was being sold in five other countries.

Award-Winning Books

In 2007, her book Orange Pear Apple Bear was nominated for the Greenaway Medal. The next year, she won her second Medal for her fourth book, Little Mouse's Big Book of Fears. She also had another book, Monkey and Me, nominated that same year.

Orange Pear Apple Bear is one of her most popular books in libraries. It teaches about colors, shapes, and food using only five simple words. A bear juggles and plays in the story.

In 2008, Emily Gravett was the official illustrator for World Book Day (United Kingdom). This meant she created special drawings and showed how she drew characters from her books.

Emily also worked with famous authors. She illustrated Cave Baby (2010), written by Julia Donaldson. This picture book is about a prehistoric baby riding a woolly mammoth. It has been published in Welsh and Chinese. She also illustrated the 2020 edition of J.K. Rowling's Quidditch Through the Ages. For this book, Emily made real objects like a broom and silk badges. These were then photographed for the illustrations.

Emily Gravett's Unique Style

Emily Gravett is known for her creative and interactive style. She finished Wolves in just six weeks as a school project. She wrote and sketched Orange Pear Apple Bear in only 11 hours! She woke up one Mother's Day with the four words in her head and stayed in bed to create the whole book.

Her books often feel like they've been used or played with. For Wolves, she wanted the book to look like a wolf had chewed it. When her pet dog didn't chew it enough, she chewed it herself!

For Little Mouse's Big Book of Fears, she wanted the book to look genuinely chewed. She painted yoghurt on paper and put it in her pet rats' cage. The rats nibbled and peed on the paper. Emily then scanned this paper to create the background for her drawings. The front cover of Little Mouse even shows a mouse looking through a hole it chewed. The book edges also look damaged.

Little Mouse's Big Book of Fears is also a movable book. It has "lift flaps and a fold-out map" for readers to explore.

Books by Emily Gravett

As Author and Illustrator

As Illustrator Only

• Cave Baby (2010), written by Julia Donaldson
• The Imaginary (2014), written by A. F. Harrold
• The Afterwards (2018), written by A. F. Harrold
• Evie and the Animals (2020), written by Matt Haig
• Evie in the Jungle (2020), written by Matt Haig
• A Song of Gladness (2021), written by Michael Morpurgo
• Locked Out Lily (2021), written by Nick Lake
• The House With a Dragon in it (2023), written by Nick Lake
• Island of Whispers (2023), by Frances Hardinge
• The Ogre Who Wasn't (2023), written by Michael Morpurgo
• The Forest of a Thousand Eyes (2024), by Frances Hardinge

Awards and Special Recognitions

Emily Gravett has won several important British book awards.

Awards

• Wolves won the 2005 Kate Greenaway Medal.
• Monkey and Me won the 2007 Booktrust Best Emerging Illustrator Award.
• Little Mouse's Big Book of Fears won the 2008 Kate Greenaway Medal.
• Tidy won the 2017 Indie Book Awards for Picture Book.

Other Recognitions

• In 2005, Wolves was a bronze runner-up for the Smarties Prize (ages 0–5 years).
• In 2006, Orange Pear Apple Bear was nominated for the Booktrust Early Years Pre-School Award.
• In 2007, Orange Pear Apple Bear was nominated for the Greenaway Medal.
• In 2007, Little Mouse's Big Book of Fears was a bronze runner-up for the Smarties Prize (ages 6–8 years).
• In 2007, Wolves was nominated for the Hampshire Illustrated Book Award.
• In 2008, Monkey and Me was nominated for the Greenaway Medal.
• In 2012, Wolf Won't Bite! was nominated for the Greenaway Medal.
• In 2013, Matilda's Cat was nominated for the Indie Book Awards.
• In 2022, Too Much Stuff was nominated for the Greenaway Medal.