Claire Alexander

Claire was born in Bath in Wiltshire and moved to Kent when she was five. She spent her childhood trying to be Monet; carrying her paint box and easel into muddy fields, painting disinterested sheep and their acquaintances.

Claire got a Degree in Fine Art in Canterbury then moved to London in 1995. She stumbled through various jobs until settling down as a portrait painter and children's book author/illustrator in 2003. She now teaches others how to write and illustrate and lives in Crouch End, North London with her partner Dennis and her little girl Mia.

Claire's first book 'Lucy and the Bully' won the 2009 Paterson Prize for Young People and her second book 'Small Florence' has been short listed for the 2010 Mad About Books Stockport Schools' Book Award.