Babette Cole
Babette Cole was born in Jersey in the Channel Islands. She graduated from Canterbury College of Art in 1973 and was the illustrator and author of more than 150 witty, imaginative, irreverent and thought-provoking picture books for children including the bestselling, stereotype-defying Princess Smartypants. She produced animated storyboards for the BBC and illustrated numerous greetings cards and books by other authors as well as her own. Babette adored the countryside and was a keen horse rider and breeder. She spent much of her life in Lincolnshire, before moving to Kent and then westward through Dorset, Devon and Cornwall.
Authored Books
A Dose of Dr Dog
Author: Babette Cole
Publisher: Random House
The focus on tropical diseases means A Dose of Doctor Dog is not as educational in its focus as the first in the series, Doctor Dog, but it also means that Babette Cole’s anarchic sense of humour can be fully unleashed.
Mummy Laid an Egg!
Author: Babette Cole
Publisher: Random House
This facts-of-life book has become a classic, despite its controversial subject matter. Cole firmly believed in children's right to knowledge about their own bodies and the accompanying pictures are never vulgar.
Dr Dog
Author: Babette Cole
Publisher: Random House Children's
Cole's funny illustrations demonstrate serious but easy-to-understand facts about personal hygiene, such as washing your hands, wearing a coat and not picking your nose.
Princess Smartypants and the Missing Princes
Author: Babette Cole
Publisher: Hodder
A stroppy, independent-minded princess sets out to solve the mysterious disappearance of the prospective husbands of her three best friends.
Prince Cinders
Author: Babette Cole
Publisher: Penguin
Prince Cinders leads a hard life, bullied by his three big hairy brothers - that is, until one Saturday night when Cinders' luck changes
Princess Smartypants
Author: Babette Cole
Publisher: Penguin
Princess Smartypants does not want to get married. She enjoys being a Ms. But being a rich and pretty princess means that all the princes want her to become their wife.
Princess Smartypants Breaks the Rules
Author: Babette Cole
Publisher: Penguin
As with other books in the Princess Smartypants series, Cole has a lot to say here about gender stereotyping, but the book is more than a conveyor belt for politically correct messaging. The book is beguiling, compelling and droll.
Hair in Funny Places
Author: Babette Cole
Publisher: Random House
Who else but Babette Cole would have the audacity to tackle puberty in a picture book - and the comic genius to make it work? This hilarious book is a conversation between a girl and her teddy bear about 'Mr and Mrs Hormone'.