Katherine Rundell facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Katherine Rundell
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Rundell in 2020
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| Born | 10 July 1987 |
| Alma mater | St Catherine's College, Oxford All Souls College, Oxford |
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| Writing career | |
| Genre | Children's fiction, non-fiction |
| Notable works | Rooftoppers (2013), Life According to Saki (2017), The Explorer (2017), The Good Thieves (2019), Super-Infinite: The Transformations of John Donne (2022), Impossible Creatures (2023) |
| Notable awards | Boston Globe–Horn Book Award Costa Book Award Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction |
Katherine Rundell is a fantastic English author and a smart academic. She writes amazing books for young readers. Her book Impossible Creatures was named the Waterstones Book of the Year in 2023. She also wrote Rooftoppers, which won the Waterstones Children's Book Prize and the Blue Peter Book Award in 2015. Katherine is known for her imaginative stories and has won many awards for her writing.
Some of her other popular books include The Girl Savage (also known as Cartwheeling in Thunderstorms), The Wolf Wilder, and The Explorer. The Explorer won the children's book prize at the Costa Book Awards in 2017. In 2022, her book Super-Infinite: The Transformations of John Donne won a big award called the Baillie Gifford Prize. She was the youngest person ever to win it! In 2024, Katherine Rundell was celebrated as the Author of the Year at the British Book Awards.
Contents
Discovering Katherine Rundell
Her Early Life and Adventures
Katherine Rundell was born in Kent, England, on July 10, 1987. She spent ten years of her childhood in Harare, Zimbabwe. Her father worked there as a diplomat, which means he represented his country in a foreign land.
When Katherine was 14, her family moved to Brussels. She went to the British School of Brussels. Katherine has shared that this move was a big change for her. In Zimbabwe, school was different, and she spent a lot of time climbing trees and swimming. Europe had a different teenage culture.
Later, while studying at St Catherine's College, Oxford, Katherine became interested in rooftop climbing. This hobby was inspired by an old book called The Night Climbers of Cambridge. It was about students who explored rooftops at another university.
Becoming a Bestselling Author
After finishing her studies, Katherine became a Fellow at All Souls College, Oxford. She once mentioned that a special exam to get into the college included writing for three hours about just one word: "novelty." She joked that she might have been accepted despite her answer, not because of it!
Stories That Take Flight
Katherine's first book, The Girl Savage, came out in 2011. It tells the story of Wilhelmina Silver, a girl from Zimbabwe. She goes to an English boarding school after her father passes away. In the United States, this book was released as Cartwheeling in Thunderstorms. It won the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award for fiction in 2015.
Her second book, Rooftoppers, was published next. It follows Sophie, who was found in a cello case after a shipwreck on her first birthday. Sophie believes her mother survived and searches for her. She explores the rooftops of Paris to avoid being sent to an orphanage. This book won the Waterstones Children's Book Prize and the Blue Peter Book Award in 2015. It was also a finalist for the Carnegie Medal.
Katherine's third novel is The Wolf Wilder. It's about a girl named Feodora. She helps prepare wolf cubs, who were once pets, to live freely in the wild.
Katherine also wrote a play called Life According to Saki. It won an award in 2016 and was performed in New York City.
Her fourth novel, The Explorer, is an exciting survival story. It's about children whose plane crashes in the Amazon rainforest. They discover a secret while trying to survive. This book won the Costa Book Award for Children's Books in 2017. Katherine even ate tinned tarantulas as part of her research for the book! It also won the Edward Stanford Travel Writing Award in 2018.
The Good Thieves is Katherine's fifth novel. It follows a girl named Vita who travels from England to New York. She goes with her mother to help her grandfather during a difficult time.
Awards and Special Recognition
In 2020, Katherine became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. This is a special honor for writers.
In 2022, she published Super-Infinite: The Transformations of John Donne. This book is about a famous poet named John Donne. It won the Baillie Gifford Prize in 2022. This is a very important award for non-fiction books. Katherine was the youngest person ever to win it! She donated her prize money to charities. These included Blue Ventures, which helps protect our oceans, and a charity that supports refugees.
In 2023, Katherine released her fantasy adventure book, Impossible Creatures. It won the British Book Award for Children's Fiction Book of the Year. It was also named the best book in England. In February 2024, it was announced that the Impossible Creatures series would have five books. The second book, The Poisoned King, was released in 2025. In October 2025, Walt Disney Studios acquired the rights to make Impossible Creatures into a live-action film series.
Beyond Writing
Katherine has some unique hobbies! She enjoys tightrope walking and exploring rooftops.
Publications
- —— (2011). The Girl Savage. London: Faber & Faber. ISBN 9780571254316.
- —— (2013). Rooftoppers. Illustrated by Terry Fan. London: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. ISBN 9781442490581.
- —— (2014). Cartwheeling in Thunderstorms. Illustrated by Melissa Castrillon. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. ISBN 9781442490628.
- —— (2015). The Wolf Wilder. Illustrated by Gelrev Ongbico. London: Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 9781408862582.
- —— (2017). The Explorer. Illustrated by Hannah Horn. London: Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 9781408854877.
- —— (2017). One Christmas Wish. Illustrated by Emily Sutton. London: Bloomsbury Children's Books. ISBN 9781408885734.
- —— (2018). Into the Jungle: Stories for Mowgli. Illustrated by Kristjana S. Williams. London: Macmillan Children’s Books. ISBN 9781536205275.
- —— (2019). The Good Thieves. Illustrated by Matt Saunders. London: Bloomsbury Children's Books. ISBN 9781408854891.
- —— (2019). Why You Should Read Children's Books, Even Though You Are So Old and Wise. London: Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 9781526610072.
- —— (2021). Skysteppers. Bloomsbury Children's Books. ISBN 9781526630452.
- —— (2022). Super-Infinite: The Transformations of John Donne. London: Faber & Faber. ISBN 9780571345922.
- —— (2022). The Zebra's Great Escape. London: Bloomsbury Children's Books. ISBN 9781526652263.
- —— (2022). The Golden Mole. London: Faber & Faber. ISBN 9780571362493.
- —— (2023). Impossible Creatures. London: Bloomsbury Children's Books. ISBN 9781408897416.
- —— (2025). The Poisoned King. New York: Knopf. ISBN 9780593809907.
