No catches, no fine print just unconditional book loving for your children with their favourites saved to their own digital bookshelf.
New members get entered into our monthly draw to win £100 to spend in your local bookshop plus lots lots more...
Find out more
Clementine Beauvais was born in Paris, but decided to cross the Channel at the age of seventeen to see how things were done on the other side. She very much liked what she saw, and has been living in Cambridge ever since. As well as studying children's literature, Clem is the author of the Sesame Seade Mysteries and the co-host of the Kid You Not podcast on children's literature. She still makes funny mistakes in English sometimes, but she's very proud that she doesn't have a comedy French accent.
Q&A
Who are your favourite authors/illustrators, and why?
My favourite illustrators include Anthony Browne and French illustrators Claude Ponti and Sempé – all amazing, in different ways, at making people look just as complex and funny as people usually are. My favourite authors – now, that’s a terribly difficult question. There are so many! Half of me would hate the other half for selecting some and leaving others aside. I’m sure my favourite authors, whoever they are, all haunt my writing anyway – because that’s what happens when you write, you just pilfer tricks and themes from people you love.
What was your favourite book when you were a child?
I was too much of a voracious reader to have just one favourite book. Of course, the Harry Potter books – of which I was a passionate fan from the age of 9, and which made me learn English. But some of my best memories of earlier reading include the Pippi Longstocking books, the Jennings series, Tintin, tons of other comics, and many other French books for children. I also loved Roald Dahl, of course, and later on, Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials as a young teenager. I tended to like magical or fantasy stories, but now I tend to prefer writing realistic or magical-realistic fiction.
Who is your favourite hero in a book?
My favourite hero is definitely a heroine – but I don’t know which one to choose, between Pippi Longstocking, French supersleuth Fantômette, or Lyra of His Dark Materials… I like heroines who are funny and active, and don’t take themselves or others too seriously.
Who is your favourite villain in a book?
I think Harry Potter has by far the widest range of villains, from Voldemort to the more complex ones: Severus Snape, Cornelius Fudge, and Bellatrix Lestrange… I also like villains who are hilarious, crazy or ridiculous, like most of the villains in Alice in Wonderland, who don’t even know that they’re villains – or are just playing at being villains – who knows?
If you could be a character from a book who would you be?
Charlie Bucket right after the end of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Nothing bad can really happen to you if you’re Charlie Bucket then, apart from a bit of indigestion. It’s a pretty good life. I’d love to graze on the sugared grass.
Who or what was your biggest influence in deciding to become a writer?
My parents’ bookshelves were full of other people’s books, and they seemed to value those books enormously. I realised I had to get on those shelves somehow to attract their attention… Now they’ve got a special shelf just for my books. Success!
When did you start writing?
Even before I started being able to write. I would dictate stories to my mum, and she’d write them down. I had a very obedient mum.
If someone wanted to be a writer what would be your number one tip for them?
Finish what you start! It’s very, very easy to begin a story, or two, or twelve – and incredibly difficult to finish them. You lose hope and love and motivation halfway through. To me, a writer is someone who finishes a story – no matter how good or bad. Get that first draft done. Finish it! What are you doing reading this interview? Go write!
Do you have any abandoned stories in you ‘bottom drawer’ that you would like to revisit?
Very, very, very many, but though early stories are always worth a nostalgic look, they’re not really good enough to justify ‘revisiting’. Writing is like pole-jumping – you have to do it many times until you actually manage to pass the bar, but no one’s going to tell a pole-jumper “Hey, why don’t you show us the videos of all the times you didn’t make it?”. Those jumps were failures, but they did contribute to that moment when it was finally a success. Same for writing. Those abandoned books might never see the light of day, but they helped prepare the way for the stories that eventually did end up in bookstores.
UKLA Longlist Book Awards - 2019 | A wickedly funny and life-affirming coming-of-age roadtrip story - winner of France's biggest prize for teen and YA fiction Mireille, Astrid and Hakima have just been voted the three ugliest girls in school by their classmates on Facebook. But does that mean they're going to sit around crying about it?... Well, maybe a little, but not for long! Climbing onto their bikes, the friends set off on a summer roadtrip to Paris. The girls will find fame, friendship and happiness on their journey, and still have time to eat a mountain of food (and drink the odd glass of wine) along the way. But will they really be able to leave all their troubles behind? Piglettes is a hilarious, beautiful and uplifting story of three girls who are determined not to let online bullying get them down.
After three exciting adventures recounted in previous books, Holly, Anna and their friend Prince Pepino are embarked on the Holy Moly Holiday they’ve been saving up for. At first the cruise ship offers everything they could wish for (apart from the preponderance of snooty young royals on the passenger list) with non-stop fun. But Holly and Anna notice there’s something not quite right, just before the ship sails off the Southern Edge of the Earth into Space! More exciting adventures follow before the day is saved, when there’s a special and very wonderful surprise waiting for Anna and Holly. Underneath the madcap adventures and slapstick these stories are rooted in friendship and the kind of fun all children will understand, and are written and illustrated with style. ~ Andrea Reece
Holly, Anna and Pepino are delighted when King Steve invites them to be his kitchen assistants in an international Royal Bake Off, organised by his older brother, King Sam of Americanada. The prize money could finally make their dream come true: the intergalactic holiday of a lifetime. But the tournament is round after terrifying round of death-defying baking, and King Steve is determined to beat his brother at all costs. With one of the contestants also plotting to take over Americanada, can Anna, Holly and Pepino stay out of danger and win the competition?
There’s a Parisian setting and decided air of chic to this singular adventure story. Anna and Holly Burnbright and their friend Prince Pepino urgently need a holiday job so when the elegant Mademoiselle Malypense asks them to help with arrangements for the wedding of Princess Violette of Francia they jump at the chance and travel to Parii at once. Skirting the revolting locals protesting in the streets, they undertake errands which take them through the sewers, into the Catacombs, and up the bell tower of Notre Dame. It’s very entertaining, and there’s lots of clever wordplay. Becka Moor rises happily to the challenge of illustrating the bizarrest of scenes – policemen on rhinoceros, an apologetic tarantula. The fairytale ending sees Mademoiselle Malypense herself marrying the princess. ~ Andrea Reece Find out Clementine Beauvais's top 10 French children's books that have been translated into English - click here!
October 2014 Book of the Month Silly jokes and madcap adventures are the order of the day in this very funny and highly illustrated royalty-themed series for younger readers.
Because their story didn't end at the right time, in the right place, because they let their feelings go to waste, it was written, I think, that Eugene and Tatiana would find each other ten years later, one morning in winter, under terra firma on the Meteor, Line 14 (magenta) of the Paris metro. Eugene and Tatiana could have fallen in love. If things had gone differently. If they had tried to really know each other. If it had just been them, and not the others. But that was years ago and time has found them far apart, leading separate lives. Until they meet once more in Paris. What really happened back then? And now? Could they ever be together after everything? Powerful, intelligent, and set in a Parisian's-eye view of Paris, a story about the love that got away.
Because their story didn't end at the right time, in the right place, because they let their feelings go to waste, it was written, I think, that Eugene and Tatiana would find each other ten years later, one morning in winter, under terra firma on the Meteor, Line 14 (magenta) of the Paris metro. Eugene and Tatiana could have fallen in love. If things had gone differently. But time has found them far apart, leading separate lives. Until they meet once more in Paris...
UKLA Longlist Book Awards - 2019 | A wickedly funny and life-affirming coming-of-age roadtrip story - winner of France's biggest prize for teen and YA fiction Mireille, Astrid and Hakima have just been voted the three ugliest girls in school by their classmates on Facebook. But does that mean they're going to sit around crying about it?... Well, maybe a little, but not for long! Climbing onto their bikes, the friends set off on a summer roadtrip to Paris. The girls will find fame, friendship and happiness on their journey, and still have time to eat a mountain of food (and drink the odd glass of wine) along the way. But will they really be able to leave all their troubles behind? Piglettes is a hilarious, beautiful and uplifting story of three girls who are determined not to let online bullying get them down.
After three exciting adventures recounted in previous books, Holly, Anna and their friend Prince Pepino are embarked on the Holy Moly Holiday they’ve been saving up for. At first the cruise ship offers everything they could wish for (apart from the preponderance of snooty young royals on the passenger list) with non-stop fun. But Holly and Anna notice there’s something not quite right, just before the ship sails off the Southern Edge of the Earth into Space! More exciting adventures follow before the day is saved, when there’s a special and very wonderful surprise waiting for Anna and Holly. Underneath the madcap adventures and slapstick these stories are rooted in friendship and the kind of fun all children will understand, and are written and illustrated with style. ~ Andrea Reece
Holly, Anna and Pepino are delighted when King Steve invites them to be his kitchen assistants in an international Royal Bake Off, organised by his older brother, King Sam of Americanada. The prize money could finally make their dream come true: the intergalactic holiday of a lifetime. But the tournament is round after terrifying round of death-defying baking, and King Steve is determined to beat his brother at all costs. With one of the contestants also plotting to take over Americanada, can Anna, Holly and Pepino stay out of danger and win the competition?
There’s a Parisian setting and decided air of chic to this singular adventure story. Anna and Holly Burnbright and their friend Prince Pepino urgently need a holiday job so when the elegant Mademoiselle Malypense asks them to help with arrangements for the wedding of Princess Violette of Francia they jump at the chance and travel to Parii at once. Skirting the revolting locals protesting in the streets, they undertake errands which take them through the sewers, into the Catacombs, and up the bell tower of Notre Dame. It’s very entertaining, and there’s lots of clever wordplay. Becka Moor rises happily to the challenge of illustrating the bizarrest of scenes – policemen on rhinoceros, an apologetic tarantula. The fairytale ending sees Mademoiselle Malypense herself marrying the princess. ~ Andrea Reece Find out Clementine Beauvais's top 10 French children's books that have been translated into English - click here!
October 2014 Book of the Month Silly jokes and madcap adventures are the order of the day in this very funny and highly illustrated royalty-themed series for younger readers.
Sesame Seade is suspicious. There's something fishy going on by the river: a case for a number one supersleuth! Sesame's parents insist that there are no pirates in Cambridge, but she's determined to prove them wrong ... Illustrated throughout with hilarious artwork by Sarah Horne, this series features a smart and sassy heroine with a unique take on life. Also in the series: SLEUTH ON SKATES and GARGOYLES GONE AWOL.
Armed with a pair of purple rollerskates and a brain with as many connections as there are stars in the universe, eleven-year-old Sesame Seade is more than qualified to be Cambridge's number one self-made supersleuth. All she needs now is a mission. So when a student ballerina and aspiring journalist vanishes into thin air, some serious sleuthing begins. Very much against her parents' wishes, but with help from her friends Toby and Gemma and a conspiratorial duck, Sesame slips into the wings and solves the mystery of the missing dancer. Illustrated throughout with hilarious artwork by Sarah Horne, this series features a smart and sassy heroine with a unique take on life. Also in the series: GARGOYLES GONE AWOL and SCAM ON THE CAM.
If this is your author page then you can share your Facebook updates with your readers right here on LoveReading
Find out more
Check out the latest activities in our KidsZone.
NEW INDIE AND SELF PUBLISHED BOOK REVIEW AND PROMOTION SERVICE LAUNCHED!