Jenny Nimmo was born on January 15, 1944 and is a British author who has written many adventure and fantasy stories, books for young readers and picture books. Her most recent book series is the Children of The Red King, which has been criticized for being similar to the Harry Potter series by Joanne Rowling.
Childhood
Jenny Nimmo was born in Windsor, Berkshire in England. Her father was a physicist, but died in unmentioned means when she was five or seven and she was moved to stay with her relatives. Nothing is mentioned about her mother. She stayed for four years on a poultry farm run by her uncle. She soon started preparatory school, but found the place harsh and cruel. Her time spent with her relatives was significant, as it was her uncle that taught her how to read with the book, “The Bear That Never Was”, which was a story about a bear that everyone thought was just a lazy man.
She was transferred to a boarding school at nine years old, which she preferred to preparatory. She took up drama and music, as encouraged by her teachers. She must not have many friends in the beginning, as she says that she used reading as a way to overcome her loneliness. She soon finished reading all the books in the junior library and asked for permission to read the contents of the senior library. She soon began to write murder - mystery stories to entertain friends. Even though her classmates might have enjoyed them, her teachers felt them inappropriate and told her not to hand in rubbish like that ever again. She took their advice and did not pursue a career in story writing, but instead became a drama student after leaving school, and joined an acting company called the Theatre Southeast, which operated in Kent and Sussex. She worked in production and as an assistant stage manager for over two years.
Career
After her career in drama in the Theatre Southeast, she somehow got a teaching job as a governess in Italy in 1963. She later returned to England, and got a job at the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). Her career there changed from a photographic researcher for two years then an assistant floor manager and then finally a director and writer on a children's show, Jackanory.
After editing other people's stories into scripts for so long, she decided to write her own script to be made into a show. It was inspired by her time spent in Italy, and was about a stone statue that comes to life. Her producer told her that it was no good as a script, but if she lengthened it, it could be a book. The Bronze Trumpeter was published in 1975 and received exceptional reviews. After a decade, she then married David Wynn Millward, artist by profession, and started a family.
She then started a trilogy, the first book being Snow Spider. It borrowed many factors from the Welsh legend, Mabinogion and received the Tir Na'og Award from the Welsh Council for it. It was followed by Emlyn"s Moon, or Orchard of the Crescent Moon and finally The Chestnut Soldier.
In 2002, she began her latest series, Children of The Red King. The first book was Midnight for Charlie Bone, and was about a boy who finds out he is an Endowed, a child with magical powers inherited from the Red King. His ability is that he can walk into photographs and pictures and hear conversations and words from the picture. He is sent to a school where others like him study. The series is still ongoing, the eighth book, Charlie Bone and the Beast, will be released this year.
She has been awarded the Smarties Gold Award for The Owl Tree in 1997, Hameln Prize for Folk-Tales for The Witches and The Sing Mice in 1994, the Tir na n'og for The Snow Spider in 1987, the Smarties Prize in 1986 for The Snow Spider and the Preis der Leseratten for The Bronze Trumpeter in 1982.
She continues to live in a windmill with her husband, but her children have already left home, so she has devoted more time to completing her books.
