The Reading Room

• Name: Lauren Child
• Date of Birth: 1967
• Place of Birth: Wiltshire, UK
• Favourite School Subject: Latin
• Perfect Sandwich: Cheese & ham
• Interests: Film, Design, Architecture
• Recent Titles: Charlie and Lola Series
• Website: www.milkmonitor.com
• See all titles from Lauren

Since I was a small child, I have loved books. Some of my earliest and most powerful memories are of books - not just reading them, but hearing them. In particular, I have always loved and valued the way in which books can allow us to escape, to enter a world that is recognisable and meaningful to us and yet utterly different from our own.

Characters in books can feel as real and important as people in our lives. We can care deeply for them and, as much as anyone we may meet and come to know, they can inspire us and change us.

Of all the characters I have encountered in books, none is more precious to me than Pippi Longstocking. To me as a child, everything about her was intriguing and beguiling. She lives on her own (with a monkey and a horse). She has no parents, no siblings, and absolutely no-one to exercise any control over her. Nothing constrains her - she has superhuman strength and a limitless supply of money, in the form of a vast pile of gold coins. But most importantly, Pippi has a quality which marks her out from all of the rest of us; she carries no anxiety about the opinions of the rest of the world.

From my first meeting with her as a small child, Pippi has been an inspiration to me. Now I have been lucky enough to illustrate her she has also become part of my work. So a book that I read when I was eight is still influencing my life and giving me great joy.

This is the amazing thing about books, whether children's or adult, they can stay with you for the rest of your life.

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Lauren Child grew up in Marlborough, Wiltshire, went to Art School in Manchester and London - where Lauren admits that she did not learn much - and has had a variety of jobs from waitressing to designing exotic, elegant lamp shades and working as an artist's assistant to Damien Hirst.

Lauren burst on to the children's books scene in 1999 with two picture books, I Want A Pet and Clarice Bean, That's Me. Her fresh and very funny books were an instant hit and in 2001 she was awarded the prestigious Kate Greenaway Medal for I Will Not Ever Never Eat A Tomato, the first book to feature the now hugely popular Charlie & Lola.

Lauren has always been keen on children's TV, especially the American shows from the 60s and 70s and is still inspired by them. She loves designing and making things and finds it exciting to see her drawings turned into objects. Other favourite things include the cinema, small Italian cars, handbags, cardigans, travelling and being picked up from the airport.

She enjoys looking round people's houses, whether public or private, and since childhood has been passionate about dolls' houses!

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