Martin Waddell
| Martin Waddell | |
|---|---|
| Born | 10 April 1941 Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK |
| Pen name | Catherine Sefton |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Nationality | British |
| Genre |
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| Notable works |
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| Notable awards |
Hans Christian Andersen Award for Writing 2004 |
Martin Waddell (born 10 April 1941) is an Irish writer of children's books. He may be known best for the texts of picture books that feature anthropomorphic animals, especially the Little Bear series illustrated by Barbara Firth (not to be confused with Minarik & Sendak's Little Bear series). He also writes under the pen name Catherine Sefton, for older children, primarily ghost stories and mystery fiction. The work by Sefton most widely held in WorldCat libraries is the novel In a blue velvet dress (1973).
For his "lasting contribution" as a children's writer Waddell received the Hans Christian Andersen Medal in 2004.
Waddell was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and has lived most of his life in neighbouring County Down, in Newcastle. As a child, he grew up with a fondness of animals and often told stories in a lively manner. This inspired him and "the love of story" stuck with Waddell ever since. He aspired at a young age to be a football player and signed for Fulham F.C. team; Waddell reflects that he scored a hat-trick on his debut in adult football but wound up as a goalkeeper.
When it became clear his future did not lie as a professional footballer, Waddell turned to his other love and began to write (he would later combine the two in the Napper series of football-centred children's books). Originally writing for adults, his first real success was a comic thriller "Otley", which was made into a film starring Tom Courtney and Romy Schneider. After moving back to Northern Ireland in the late si\ties he wrote books that reflected on the changing situation in his native land. Soon his love of storytelling would pull him into the medium of children's literature.
In 1972 he went into a church to stop some vandals and got caught up in an explosion in Donaghadee—an experience that took him years to overcome. As an author, nearly all of Waddell's stories are inspired by events or places in his life at the foot of the Mourne Mountains. As he humorously claimed, "I've been blown up, buried alive and had cancer as an adult, and survived all these experiences, so I'm a very lucky man."
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