Inga Moore facts for kids

Inga Moore is a talented Anglo-Australian author and artist who creates wonderful books for children. She was born in 1945 and has brought many stories to life with her words and beautiful illustrations.

Early Life and Inspiration

Inga Moore was born in Sussex, England. When she was eight years old, her family moved to Australia. She went to school in Adelaide. Inga loved reading, and by the time she was fourteen, her favorite book was The Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides by James Boswell.

After finishing school, Inga worked at different jobs. She was inspired to become an illustrator after seeing Raymond Briggs's book Father Christmas (published in 1973). She then started looking for work as an artist for books. One of her first books was Aktil’s Big Swim (1980). It tells the story of a mouse from Dover who decides to swim the English Channel, not realizing how wide it is!

A New Home and Famous Books

In the early 1980s, Inga Moore moved back to England. She settled in Hampstead and continued to create picture books. Her book Six-Dinner Sid (1990) is an illustrated story about a clever cat. It took her six months to finish this book. Six-Dinner Sid won the Nestlé Smarties Book Prize in the category for children under five years old.

During a tough economic time in the early 1990s, Inga lost her flat. But this turned out to be a good thing! She found a new apartment in a big, old house in a village in Gloucestershire. This house had lots of natural light, perfect for her art studio. The countryside around her new home, especially near the River Windrush, gave her ideas for her illustrations.

This beautiful setting inspired her to illustrate Kenneth Grahame’s classic book, The Wind in the Willows. Her edition of this book became very popular, selling over a million copies! She has also illustrated other famous children's books, including The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett and The Canterville Ghost by Oscar Wilde.

As of 2025, Inga Moore continues to live and work in Gloucestershire. After her successful version of The Wind in the Willows, she has been working on a sequel to the story.

Books Written by Inga Moore

Inga Moore has written and illustrated many of her own stories. Here are some of them:

• Aktil's Big Swim (1980)
• Aktil's Rescue (1982)
• The Vegetable Thieves (1983)
• A Big Day for Little Jack (1984)
• The Truffle Hunter (1985)
• Fifty Red Night-caps (1988)
• Rose and the Nightingale (1988)
• The Sorcerer’s Apprentice (1989)
• Six-Dinner Sid (1990)
• Oh, Little Jack (1992)
• The Little Apple Tree (1994)
• Six Dinner Sid: A Highland Adventure (2010)
• A House in the Woods (2011)
• Captain Cat (2012)
• Moose's Book Bus (2021)

Books Illustrated by Inga Moore

Inga Moore is also well-known for her beautiful illustrations in books written by other authors. Some of these include:

• Prayers for Children, by Caroline Royds (1989)
• Anne of Green Gables, by LM Montgomery (1994)
• The Wind in the Willows, by Kenneth Grahame (1999)
• The Reluctant Dragon, by Kenneth Grahame (2004)
• Dragons and Other Beasts, by Kenneth Grahame and E. Nesbit (2006)
• The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgson Burnett (2008)
• The Canterville Ghost, by Oscar Wilde