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.
Books
A Dose of Dr Dog
Author: Babette Cole
Publisher: Random House
Interest age: 4-7
Reading age: 6+
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.
Dr Dog
Author: Babette Cole
Publisher: Random House Children's
Interest age: 5+
Reading age: 6+
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.
Even My Ears Are Smiling
Author: Michael Rosen
Illustrator: Babette Cole
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Interest age: 5+
Reading age: 8+
Colourful and brimming with personality, Rosen’s style and is wonderfully matched with Babette Cole’s distinctive drawings
Hair in Funny Places
Author: Babette Cole
Publisher: Random House
Interest age: 7+
Reading age: 8+
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'.
Mummy Laid an Egg!
Author: Babette Cole
Publisher: Random House
Interest age: 3+
Reading age: 5+
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.
Prince Cinders
Author: Babette Cole
Publisher: Penguin
Interest age: 3+
Reading age: 4+
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: Puffin
Interest age: 6-8
Reading age: 6+
Princess Smartypants is rebellious, independent, and very happy being single - but her parents want her to get married and settle down! This hilarious picture book has a subversive protagonist and a strong message about choosing your own destiny.
Princess Smartypants and the Missing Princes
Author: Babette Cole
Publisher: Hodder
Interest age: 5+
Reading age: 8+
A stroppy, independent-minded princess sets out to solve the mysterious disappearance of the prospective husbands of her three best friends.
Princess Smartypants Breaks the Rules
Author: Babette Cole
Publisher: Penguin
Interest age: 3+
Reading age: 5+
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.