Liz Kessler facts for kids
Liz Kessler was born on October 15, 1966. She is an English writer who creates amazing children's books. She is most famous for her series about a half-mermaid girl named Emily Windsnap.
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About Liz Kessler
Liz Kessler grew up in Southport, a town in the North West of England. She has also lived in Manchester and Cheshire. Today, she lives in St Ives, Cornwall.
Liz studied English at Loughborough University. She then became a teacher after studying at Keele University. Later, she earned a special degree in Creative Writing from Manchester Metropolitan University.
She used to teach English and Media Studies. Liz also taught classes on how to write stories. Before becoming a full-time author, she worked as a journalist. She wrote for local newspapers in York and Manchester.
Many of Liz Kessler's books have been translated into German. Her book When the World Was Ours (published in 2021) was even nominated for a big award in Germany called the Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis in 2023. This shows how much young readers enjoy her stories!
The Emily Windsnap Series
The Emily Windsnap series is a collection of exciting novels for children. The main character is a 12-year-old girl named Emily. She lives with her mom on a boat by the sea.
One day, Emily takes swimming lessons and discovers a huge secret about herself. She finds out she is a "semi-mer." This means she has a mermaid's tail when she is fully in water. But when she is on land, she has human legs!
Emily's mother doesn't seem to remember anything about mermaids. She also doesn't remember Emily's father. So, Emily and her new friend, Shona Silkfin, go on an adventure. They travel through the mermaid world to find out the truth about Emily, her parents, and a mysterious lighthouse keeper named Mr. Beeston.
The Emily Windsnap series became very popular. On May 20, 2007, one of the books was #10 on the New York Times Best Seller list for new children's series. Liz Kessler has now released nine books in this fantastic series.
Other Books by Liz Kessler
Liz Kessler has written many other wonderful books besides the Emily Windsnap series.
A Year Without Autumn was the first of three special novels. These books are not part of a series and each one deals with time travel in some way. North of Nowhere was the second book in this group.
A Year Without Autumn was nominated for the Blue Peter Award in 2012. Also, Read Me Like a Book (2016) and Haunt Me were nominated for the Kernow Youth Book Awards. Haunt Me even won the award in 2018!
- A Year Without Autumn (2011)
- North of Nowhere (2013)
- Has Anyone Seen Jessica Jenkins? (2015)
- Read Me Like a Book (2015)
- Haunt Me (2017)
- When the World was Ours (2021)
Emily Windsnap Books
The Emily Windsnap books are published by Orion Children's Books in the U.K. In the U.S., they are published by Candlewick Press. The first two books have amazing illustrations by Sarah Gibb, who also creates the cover art for the series. Natacha Ledwidge illustrated the third to fifth books.
- The Tail of Emily Windsnap (2003)
- Emily Windsnap and the Monster from the Deep (2004)
- Emily Windsnap and the Castle in the Mist (2006)
- Emily Windsnap and the Siren's Secret (2010)
- Emily Windsnap and the Land of the Midnight Sun (2012)
- Emily Windsnap and the Ship of Lost Souls (2015)
- Emily Windsnap and the Falls of the Forgotten Island (2018)
- Emily Windsnap and the Pirate Prince (2019)
- Emily Windsnap and the Tides of Time (2020)
Philippa Fisher Books
The Philippa Fisher books feature illustrations by Katie May.
- Philippa Fisher's Fairy Godsister (2008)
- Philippa Fisher and the Dream-Maker's Daughter (2009)
- Philippa Fisher and the Stone Fairy's Promise (2010)
Poppy the Pirate Dog Books
These fun books about Poppy the Pirate Dog are illustrated by Mike Phillips. They are published by Orion.
- Poppy the Pirate Dog (2012)
- Poppy the Pirate Dog's New Shipmate (2013)
- Poppy the Pirate Dog and the Missing Treasure (2015)
