Penny Dolan

As a child

Penny grew up in north London. She liked drawing and writing and reading, but got anxious about sums. Penny's favourite places were the British Museum and the Victoria & Albert Museum, and she liked learning about the past. She wanted to be an archaeologist and museum curator. So her bedroom was full of all sorts of old interesting things: coins, medals, bones, shells and statues, and even a stuffed Indian crocodile.

As an adult

Penny has studied English, art and educational drama. When she was a teacher, her favourite school things were reading children's books, arranging expeditions around the town for history projects, and creating plays and assemblies. She loved teaching art and always snaffled the largest painting tables for her room, and plenty of paint. Penny enjoyed teaching writing. Then one day, she decided she'd really like to be doing the writing herself. So she started on her own stories, and became a writer – but she still likes visiting schools and children a lot.

As an artist

Penny is often inspired by old jokes and tales, and enjoys creating eccentric characters. She has written several chapter books, including The Tale of Rickety Hall (nominated for the Children's Book Award), The Ghost of Able Mabel (World Book Day 2004 Recommended Read) and The Third Elephant, a fairy tale full of hope and wonder. She already had some picture book stories, but creating Mr Pod and Mr Piccalilli with Nick Sharratt was the first time she'd worked with an illustrator. It was most interesting. She really liked the way Mr Pod and Mr Piccalilli became great friends, though they seem to be such opposites. Perhaps it’s exactly the kind of idea that a Gemini writer might think up!

Things you didn't know about Penny Dolan

1. Penny has one bad cat.
2. She wishes she could sing.
3. She likes to paddle in the sea at least once a year but…
4. She is probably the world’s slowest swimmer.
5. She once worked in a cake shop. Yum yum!
6. She almost got expelled from convent school for ghost-writing love poems for other pupils.
7. She enjoys writing favourite landscapes and places into her stories.
8. She gets rather absent-minded when she’s writing.
9. She has three large untidy desks in her work room, and likes to have plenty of pens around.
10. She has a favourite colour: yellow! But she usually wears black because scribbles and pen-marks don’t show up so much on dark colours.

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