Editing Francesca Simon

{{Short description|American-British author (born 1955)}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| name             = Francesca Simon
| honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|MBE}}
| image            = <!-- filename only, no "File:" or "Image:" prefix, and no enclosing [[brackets]] -->
| alt              = <!-- descriptive text for use by speech synthesis (text-to-speech) software -->
| caption          = 
| birth_name       = Francesca Isabella Simon
| birth_date       = {{Birth date and age|1955|02|23|df=y}}
| birth_place      = [[St. Louis]], [[Missouri]], U.S.
| nationality      = British
| occupation       = Writer
| alma_mater       = [[Yale University]];<br/> [[Jesus College, Oxford]]
| years_active     = 1963–present <ref>{{cite web|title=About Francesca Simon|url=https://www.brittenpearsarts.org/profile/francesca-simon#:~:text=Francesca%20Simon%20spent%20her%20childhood,study%20medieval%20history%20and%20literature.|publisher=BrittenPears|website=BrittenPearsArts.com|access-date=2024-10-07}}</ref>
| notable_works    = ''[[Horrid Henry]]''<br>''Evil Evie''
| spouse = Martin Stamp 
| children         = 1
| father           = [[Mayo Simon]]
| relatives        = [[Anne Simon]] (sister)
| website          = {{URL|francescasimon.com}}
| module           = {{Infobox writer|embed=yes
| genre            = [[Children's literature]]
}}
}}
'''Francesca Isabella Simon''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|MBE}} (born 23 February 1955) is an American-born British author. She is most famous for writing the ''[[Horrid Henry]]'' and ''Evil Evie'' series of [[children's books]].

She is the daughter of screenwriter and playwright [[Mayo Simon]]<ref name="McCrum">{{Cite news|last=McCrum|first=Robert|author-link=Robert McCrum|date=2013-09-13|title=Francesca Simon: 'When I started out, people would ask: "When will you write for adults?"'|language=en-GB|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/sep/13/francesca-simon-books-interview|access-date=2020-05-26|issn=0261-3077}}</ref> (not to be confused with [[Simon Mayo]], a British radio DJ).

==Biography==
Simon was born on 23 February 1955 in [[St. Louis]], [[Missouri]]. She grew up in [[California]] and studied at [[Yale University]] and [[Jesus College, Oxford|Jesus College]], [[Oxford University|Oxford]], where she majored in [[medieval studies]] and Old English. Simon worked as a journalist, writing for ''[[The Sunday Times]]'', [[The Guardian|''Guardian'']], ''[[Mail on Sunday]]'', ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'' and ''[[Vogue (magazine)|Vogue]]'' (US).<ref>{{Cite web|title=Francesca Simon — People — Royal Opera House|url=http://www.roh.org.uk/people/francesca-simon|website=www.roh.org.uk|access-date=2020-05-26}}</ref> She is married to an English husband, Martin Stamp, and has one son called Joshua (born 1989). Simon got the idea for the ''Horrid Henry'' books when a friend asked her to write a story about a horrid child. She also wanted to write about sibling rivalry and families where one child was considered "perfect" and the other "horrid". Many of the ''Horrid Henry'' stories were inspired by events from Simon's life, including her childhood, and those of people that she knew, with additional ideas coming from her imagination.<ref name="Q&A">{{cite web|title=Here are the answers to some of your questions...|url=http://www.horridhenry.co.uk/FAQ.htm|publisher=[[Hachette UK]]|access-date=1 September 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041015195254/http://www.horridhenry.co.uk/FAQ.htm|archive-date=15 October 2004}}</ref><ref name="HenryLivePDF">{{Cite web|title=Horrid Henry – Live and Horrid! – Teachers' Resource Pack|url=http://www.francescasimon.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Horrid-Henry-Live-and-Horrid-Teaching-Pack-Watershed-Productions.pdf|quote=The idea for Horrid Henry came about when an illustrator friend of Francesca Simon's asked her to write a book about a naughty child, as she was fed up of drawing angelic children! As the eldest of four children, Simon also wanted to write about the relationships between brothers and sisters, and so she created Perfect Peter. Although she says she adores Peter, Simon admits that Henry is most people's favourite; he is the "imp inside everyone" and of course it's "sometimes great to let that imp out"!|access-date=2024-08-27|language=en|year=2008}}</ref><ref name="What Makes">{{cite news|title=Francesca Simon interview: what makes Henry so horrid?|date=5 April 2010 |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/books-life/7544620/Francesca-Simon-interview-what-makes-Henry-so-horrid.html|newspaper=The Telegraph|access-date=1 September 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230426194039/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/books-life/7544620/Francesca-Simon-interview-what-makes-Henry-so-horrid.html|archive-date=26 April 2023}}</ref><ref name="20 Things">{{cite news|title=20 things you never knew about Horrid Henry|date=27 May 2014 |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/hay-festival/10858455/20-things-you-never-knew-about-Horrid-Henry.html|newspaper=The Telegraph|access-date=1 September 2024|archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20240715073517/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/hay-festival/10858455/20-things-you-never-knew-about-Horrid-Henry.html|archive-date=15 July 2024}}</ref><ref name="FactsPDF">{{Cite web|title=Horrid Henry: The Facts Behind the Fiction|url=http://www.francescasimon.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Horrid-Henry-The-Facts-Behind-the-Fiction.pdf|website=francescasimon.com|access-date=2024-09-02|language=en|year=2013}}</ref><ref name="HenryPDF">{{Cite web|title=Here are the answers to some of your questions...|url=http://www.francescasimon.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Francescas-FAQs.pdf|website=francescasimon.com|quote=I get my ideas from things that happen to me, or to people I know, or from my imagination. I think of ordinary situations, like birthday parties or getting nits, and then add a "horrid" twist. So if my son, Josh, has to have an injection, I think of how Henry would behave.|access-date=2024-09-02|language=en|year=2013}}</ref><ref name="London Mums">{{Cite web|title=Exclusive chat with Horrid Henry's 'mum' Francesca Simon on her inspiration behind the naughtiest boy in literature|url=https://londonmumsmagazine.com/shopping-guides/books-tested-recommended/exclusive-chat-horrid-henrys-mum-francesca-simon-inspiration-behind-naughtiest-boy-literature/|date=2014-07-13|website=London Mums Magazine|language=en-GB|access-date=2020-05-26}}</ref><ref name="Real Inspiration">{{cite web|title=Author Francesca Simon reveals the real inspiration behind Horrid Henry|date=17 June 2014 |url=https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/horrid-henry-author-francesca-simon/|website=Jewish News|access-date=29 August 2024}}</ref>

Simon was inspired to write by [[Anthony Trollope]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thebookseller.com/feature/20-years-horrid-henry-338377 |title=20 Years of Horrid Henry|publisher=thebookseller.com |date=2014-06-10 |access-date=2017-02-02}}</ref> She began to write children's books full-time in 1989. Simon is one of the UK's best-selling children's writers;<ref name="McCrum" /> she has published more than 50 different books, including her most popular series ''Horrid Henry'' series, which has sold more than 25 million copies, and has been translated into 24 languages.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Inventory: Francesca Simon|url=https://www.ft.com/content/6c477808-0460-11e3-a8d6-00144feab7de |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/https://www.ft.com/content/6c477808-0460-11e3-a8d6-00144feab7de |archive-date=10 December 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|date=2013-08-16|website=www.ft.com|language=en-GB|access-date=2020-05-26}}</ref><ref name="London Mums"/>

Simon lives in [[London]] with her husband, Martin. Their Tibetan spaniel, Shanti, is memorialised in the short story "Shanti" that Simon wrote for inclusion in the ''[[Paws and Whiskers]]'' anthology by fellow author [[Jacqueline Wilson]] published in February 2014.<ref name=Shanti>{{cite web |url=http://www.francescasimon.com/supporting-battersea-cats-dogs-home/ |title=Supporting Battersea Cats and Dogs Home |first=Francesca |last=Simon |date=13 February 2014 |website=www.francescasimon.com |access-date=2014-06-10 |quote=Published today is Paws and Whiskers a special anthology of the very best stories about cats and dogs from the world of children's literature, chosen by my fellow author, and Battersea Cats and Dogs Home patron Jacqueline Wilson. This book is very special to me because it includes a piece about Shanti, my wonderful Tibetan spaniel, who very sadly died last autumn. That's Shanti on the cover, in the bottom right hand corner!}}</ref>

In the spring of 2019 the [[Royal Opera House]] staged an opera based on Simon's book ''The Monstrous Child'', about the Norse god of the dead, [[Hel (being)|Hel]], as an angry teenager. The opera is composed by Gavin Higgins with [[libretto]] by Simon.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.roh.org.uk/productions/the-monstrous-child-by-timothy-sheader|title=The Monstrous Child — Productions — Royal Opera House|website=www.roh.org.uk|access-date=2018-10-10}}</ref>

==Selected works==
<!-- distinguish children's picture books from others afap -->
* ''[[Horrid Henry]]'' series, illustrated by [[Tony Ross]], [[Orion Books]], 1994 to 2019
* {{cite book|title=The Topsy Turvies|last=Simon|first=Francesca|others=Illustrated by Keren Ludlow|publisher=[[Dial Press]]|edition=1st|date=1995|isbn=978-0803719699}}
* {{cite book|last1=Simon|first1=Francesca|title=The Topsy-Turvies (Early Reader)|date=2012|publisher=Orion Children's|others=Illustrated by Emily Bolam|isbn=978-1444005127}}
* {{cite book|last1=Simon|first1=Francesca|title=The Lost Gods|date=2014|publisher=[[Profile Books]]|isbn=978-1846685668}} – longlisted for the [[Guardian Prize]], 2014
* {{cite book|last1=Simon|first1=Francesca|title=The Monstrous Child|date=2017|publisher=[[Faber & Faber]] Children's|isbn=978-0571330270|edition=Paperback}}
* {{cite book|last1=Simon|first1=Francesca|title=Hack and Whack|date=2017|publisher=Faber & Faber Children's|others=Illustrated by Charlotte Cotterill|isbn=978-0571328710}}

==Honours and awards==
In 2008, Simon won the [[British Book Award]] for [[British Book Awards#Children's Book of the Year|British Book Award The Children's Book of the Year]] with [[Horrid Henry#16. Horrid Henry and the Abominable Snowman-2007|''Horrid Henry and the Abominable Snowman'']]. She is the first American to win this award.

Simon was appointed [[Member of the Order of the British Empire]] (MBE) in the [[2023 New Year Honours]] for services to literature.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=63918|supp=y|page=N24|date=31 December 2022}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Official website}}
* {{isfdb name|81813}}
* {{LCAuth|n93082285|Francesca Simon||ue}}

{{Horrid Henry}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Simon, Francesca}}
[[Category:1955 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Alumni of Jesus College, Oxford]]
[[Category:American children's writers]]
[[Category:American emigrants to England]]
[[Category:British children's writers]]
[[Category:Jewish English writers]]
[[Category:Members of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Writers from St. Louis]]
[[Category:Yale University alumni]]