Lucy Coats
Encyclopedia
Lucy Coats is an author who writes picture books, poetry
, stories and novels for children of all ages. Her specialty is retelling myths and legend from many cultures.
, UK. She grew up in the small country village of Dummer, and was sent to a boarding school in Kent
. In 1979 she went to Edinburgh University where she graduated with an MA in English Literature and Ancient History.
She worked as a children’s book editor in London and New York, before becoming a full-time children’s author. She is married with two children and lives in Northamptonshire
, UK.
Coats’s interests include reading, cooking, gardening and shamanism, and she is a member of the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids
(OBOD). As well as writing, she also visits schools, reading stories and hosting celtic poetry workshops for children.
called ‘a thoroughly adorable counting rhyme’, was published by 1992, and is Coats’s first book.
in the Mail on Sunday called ‘the sort of book a child will hold up for you to read again and again, and one I wouldn’t mind reading a hundred times.’
to find Merlin
and rescue the Thirteen Treasures of the Island of Britain
from Viking
raiders. On the way from his home at Callanish
in the Hebrides
, he visits the Isle of Man
, Ireland
, Wales
, Brittany
and Cornwall
, telling fifty of the best Celtic myths and legends on his way. Once again illustrated by Anthony Lewis, like Atticus, there is a map of Coll and Branwen’s journey, and a link between geographical location and story. The Times
calls the stories ‘among the best we have--ideal for bedtime reading and/or holidays in Britain’.
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
, stories and novels for children of all ages. Her specialty is retelling myths and legend from many cultures.
Biography
Lucy Coats was born in HampshireHampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
, UK. She grew up in the small country village of Dummer, and was sent to a boarding school in Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
. In 1979 she went to Edinburgh University where she graduated with an MA in English Literature and Ancient History.
She worked as a children’s book editor in London and New York, before becoming a full-time children’s author. She is married with two children and lives in Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire is a landlocked county in the English East Midlands, with a population of 629,676 as at the 2001 census. It has boundaries with the ceremonial counties of Warwickshire to the west, Leicestershire and Rutland to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshire to the south-east,...
, UK.
Coats’s interests include reading, cooking, gardening and shamanism, and she is a member of the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids
Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids
The Order of Bards, Ovates & Druids or OBOD is a Neo-Druidic organisation based in England, but based in part on the Welsh Gorsedd of Bards...
(OBOD). As well as writing, she also visits schools, reading stories and hosting celtic poetry workshops for children.
One Hungry Baby
Which Kirkus ReviewsKirkus Reviews
Kirkus Reviews is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus . Kirkus serves the book and literary trade sector, including libraries, publishers, literary and film agents, film and TV producers and booksellers. Kirkus Reviews is published on the first and 15th of each month...
called ‘a thoroughly adorable counting rhyme’, was published by 1992, and is Coats’s first book.
Down in the Daisies
Is a mixture of weather, counting and baby animals around the world, which Artemis CooperArtemis Cooper
The Hon. Alice Clare Antonia Opportune Cooper Beevor is a British writer known as Artemis Cooper.Known as Artemis, a nickname which honours her paternal grandmother, she is the only daughter of the 2nd Viscount Norwich and his first wife, the former Anne Clifford, and a granddaughter of the...
in the Mail on Sunday called ‘the sort of book a child will hold up for you to read again and again, and one I wouldn’t mind reading a hundred times.’
King Ocean’s Flute
Is the story of Paulo, a shepherd boy who learns to play the flute from listening to the voices of all the creatures around him. When King Ocean hears Paulo challenging him, he summons the boy down to his underwater palace for a musical duel. Beautiful watercolours by Peter Malone and a lyrical text inspired the Sunday Times to name it their Children’s Book of the Week, and call it a ‘masterpiece’.First Rhymes
Was published in 1994. This is a collection of new and adapted nursery rhymes, which Poetry for 6 and Under described as ‘a marvellous collection…that your children will demand to hear again, and again, and again.’Atticus the Storyteller’s 100 Greek Myths
Is Coats’s best known book, and is the biggest collection of Greek Myths for children ever written. The narrator is Atticus, a sandalmaker from Crete, who travels round Ancient Greece with Melissa the Donkey, telling the stories in the actual geographical locations where they are meant to have happened. Atticus’s journey can be followed on a map, and the book is copiously illustrated in colour by Anthony Lewis. Atticus has also been published in Greek, Italian, Hebrew and Serbo-Croat, as well as being recorded on CD by Simon Russell-Beale. Junior Education chose it as Book of the Month and included it in 100 Best Books of 2002, calling it ‘storytelling at its most compelling’. It was also shortlisted for the Blue Peter Book Award.Coll the Storyteller’s Book of Enchantments
Takes the boy bard, Coll, and his magical raven, Branwen, on a quest round the British IslesBritish Isles
The British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and over six thousand smaller isles. There are two sovereign states located on the islands: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and...
to find Merlin
Merlin
Merlin is a legendary figure best known as the wizard featured in the Arthurian legend. The standard depiction of the character first appears in Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae, written c. 1136, and is based on an amalgamation of previous historical and legendary figures...
and rescue the Thirteen Treasures of the Island of Britain
Thirteen Treasures of the Island of Britain
The Thirteen Treasures of the Island of Britain are a series of items in late medieval Welsh tradition. Lists of the items appear in texts dating to the 15th and 16th centuries...
from Viking
Viking
The term Viking is customarily used to refer to the Norse explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates who raided, traded, explored and settled in wide areas of Europe, Asia and the North Atlantic islands from the late 8th to the mid-11th century.These Norsemen used their famed longships to...
raiders. On the way from his home at Callanish
Callanish
Callanish is a village on the West Side of the Isle of Lewis, in the Outer Hebrides , Scotland. A linear settlement with a jetty, it is situated on a headland jutting into Loch Roag, a sea loch...
in the Hebrides
Hebrides
The Hebrides comprise a widespread and diverse archipelago off the west coast of Scotland. There are two main groups: the Inner and Outer Hebrides. These islands have a long history of occupation dating back to the Mesolithic and the culture of the residents has been affected by the successive...
, he visits the Isle of Man
Isle of Man
The Isle of Man , otherwise known simply as Mann , is a self-governing British Crown Dependency, located in the Irish Sea between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, within the British Isles. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Lord of Mann. The Lord of Mann is...
, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
, Brittany
Brittany
Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...
and Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
, telling fifty of the best Celtic myths and legends on his way. Once again illustrated by Anthony Lewis, like Atticus, there is a map of Coll and Branwen’s journey, and a link between geographical location and story. The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
calls the stories ‘among the best we have--ideal for bedtime reading and/or holidays in Britain’.