Joyce Dunbar
Encyclopedia
Joyce Dunbar is an English writer. She primarily writes books for children, and has published over seventy books. Dunbar is perhaps best known for Tell Me Something Happy Before I Go To Sleep, This Is The Star, and the Mouse And Mole series. She is the mother of book author-illustrator Polly Dunbar
.
, England
and is one of four children. Her father was a steel-worker and her mother was a fishing net maker. Dunbar grew up in Lincolnshire
.
Dunbar attended Goldsmiths College
in London
, where she received a Bachelor of Arts
in English
. After that, she did several jobs, working as a nanny, a waitress, a barmaid, and a salesperson. In 1968, she started working as a teacher in a college drama department of Stratford-on-Avon, England
. However, due to her gradual loss of hearing, Dunbar had to stop her teaching career and in 1989, she became a full time writer.
Dunbar has two grown up children: Ben, a fashion photographer and Polly
, an author illustrator. Dunbar currently lives in Norwich
.
In 1985, Dunbar published Mundo And The Weather-Child - a novel about the imaginary friend of a deaf child, which helped her become a runner up for the Guardian Fiction Award. In 1990, her book A Bun for Barney was made into an interactive video game by BBC Multimedia Corporation.
In 1998, she wrote Tell Me Something Happy Before I Go To Sleep, which is recommended as a book to help children feel secure. In 2002 Dunbar did a book tour in the United States to promote this book. Her 2005 picture book Shoe Baby, illustrated by her daughter Polly, was made into a puppet show and is part of the 2006 Brighton Festival
.
Dunbar most well-known series, Mouse and Mole, has been adapted into a twenty-six part television animation series by Grasshopper Productions, with voices lent by Alan Bennett
and Richard Briers
.
in order to raise funds for the National Deaf Children's Society
. Her journal Cycle Cuba, a record of this event, was published in 1999. That same year, she had a trip to the Himalayas in support of the founding of a new ashram. Dunbar has also taught English writing for children from Greek island Skyros
.
Dunbar is on the steering group for the In The Picture project run by SCOPE, which is about the representation of children with disability in picture books.
Panda & Gander Series
Mouse and Mole Series
Polly Dunbar
Polly Dunbar is an author-illustrator. Dunbar is known for her self-illustrated books Dog Blue, Flyaway Katie and Penguin. She is the daughter of children's book writer Joyce Dunbar, whom she worked with to publish the picture book Shoe Baby...
.
Biography
Dunbar was born in 1944 in ScunthorpeScunthorpe
Scunthorpe is a town within North Lincolnshire, England. It is the administrative centre of the North Lincolnshire unitary authority, and had an estimated total resident population of 72,514 in 2010. A predominantly industrial town, Scunthorpe, the United Kingdom's largest steel processing centre,...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and is one of four children. Her father was a steel-worker and her mother was a fishing net maker. Dunbar grew up in Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...
.
Dunbar attended Goldsmiths College
Goldsmiths College
Goldsmiths, University of London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom which specialises in the arts, humanities and social sciences, and a constituent college of the federal University of London. It was founded in 1891 as Goldsmiths' Technical and Recreative Institute...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, where she received a Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
in English
English studies
English studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of literatures written in the English language , English linguistics English studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of literatures written in the English language (including literatures from the U.K., U.S.,...
. After that, she did several jobs, working as a nanny, a waitress, a barmaid, and a salesperson. In 1968, she started working as a teacher in a college drama department of Stratford-on-Avon, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. However, due to her gradual loss of hearing, Dunbar had to stop her teaching career and in 1989, she became a full time writer.
Dunbar has two grown up children: Ben, a fashion photographer and Polly
Polly Dunbar
Polly Dunbar is an author-illustrator. Dunbar is known for her self-illustrated books Dog Blue, Flyaway Katie and Penguin. She is the daughter of children's book writer Joyce Dunbar, whom she worked with to publish the picture book Shoe Baby...
, an author illustrator. Dunbar currently lives in Norwich
Norwich
Norwich is a city in England. It is the regional administrative centre and county town of Norfolk. During the 11th century, Norwich was the largest city in England after London, and one of the most important places in the kingdom...
.
Writing
Dunbar published her first children’s book at age 35.In 1985, Dunbar published Mundo And The Weather-Child - a novel about the imaginary friend of a deaf child, which helped her become a runner up for the Guardian Fiction Award. In 1990, her book A Bun for Barney was made into an interactive video game by BBC Multimedia Corporation.
In 1998, she wrote Tell Me Something Happy Before I Go To Sleep, which is recommended as a book to help children feel secure. In 2002 Dunbar did a book tour in the United States to promote this book. Her 2005 picture book Shoe Baby, illustrated by her daughter Polly, was made into a puppet show and is part of the 2006 Brighton Festival
Brighton Festival
The Brighton Festival is an annual arts festival which takes place in the city of Brighton and Hove in England each May. It was founded in 1966, and is the largest multi-art form festival in England...
.
Dunbar most well-known series, Mouse and Mole, has been adapted into a twenty-six part television animation series by Grasshopper Productions, with voices lent by Alan Bennett
Alan Bennett
Alan Bennett is a British playwright, screenwriter, actor and author. Born in Leeds, he attended Oxford University where he studied history and performed with The Oxford Revue. He stayed to teach and research mediaeval history at the university for several years...
and Richard Briers
Richard Briers
Richard David Briers, CBE is an English actor whose career has encompassed theatre, television, film and radio.He first came to prominence as George Starling in Marriage Lines in the 1960s, but it was in the following decade when he played Tom Good in the BBC sitcom The Good Life that he became a...
.
Other projects
Being a person with a hearing impairment, Dunbar has participated in a number of campaigns on behalf of deaf people. In 1998, Dunbar cycled across CubaCuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
in order to raise funds for the National Deaf Children's Society
National Deaf Children's Society
'The National Deaf Children's Society' is the only British charity solely dedicated to providing support, information and advice for deaf children and young people, their families and professionals working with them....
. Her journal Cycle Cuba, a record of this event, was published in 1999. That same year, she had a trip to the Himalayas in support of the founding of a new ashram. Dunbar has also taught English writing for children from Greek island Skyros
Skyros
Skyros is an island in Greece, the southernmost of the Sporades, an archipelago in the Aegean Sea. Around the 2nd millennium BC and slightly later, the island was known as The Island of the Magnetes where the Magnetes used to live and later Pelasgia and Dolopia and later Skyros...
.
Dunbar is on the steering group for the In The Picture project run by SCOPE, which is about the representation of children with disability in picture books.
Selected bibliography
Children's fiction- Moonbird (Random House 2006)
- Where's My Sock (Chicken House 2006)
- Snow White and the Seven Dwalfs (Retelling) (Scholastic 2005)
- Boo The The Who In The Dark (Scholastic 2004)
- The Love-Me Bird (Scholastic 2003)
- Magic Lemonade (Egmont 2003)
- Tell Me What It's Like To Be Big (Transworld 2001)
- The Very Small (Transworld 2000)
- The Glass Garden (Frances Lincoln 1999)
- Tell Me Something Happy Before I Go To Sleep (Transworld 1998)
- Baby Bird (Walker 1998)
- If You Want To Be A Cat (Macdonald 1997)
- This Is The Star (Transworld 1996)
- Freddie The Frog (Ginn 1996)
- Oops-A-Daisy (Walker 1995)
- Little Eight John (Retelling) (Ginn 1994)
- The Spring Rabbit (Anderson Press 1994)
- Seven Sillies (Anderson Press 1993)
- Can Do (Simon & Schuster 1992)
- Why Is The Sky Up? (Dent 1991)
- Ten Little Mice (Methuen 1990)
- Joanna And The Bean-Bag Beastie (Ginn 1989)
- Mouse Mad Madeline (Hamish Hamilton 1988)
- The Raggy Taggy Toys (Orchard 1987)
- Mundo And The Weather-Child (Heinemann 1985)
- The Magic Rose Bough (Hodder & Stoughton 1984)
- Jugg (Scolar Press 1980)
Panda & Gander Series
- Panda's New Toy (Walker Books 1999)
- Gander's Pond (Walker Books 1999)
- The Secret Friend (Walker Books 1999)
- Tutti-Frutti (Walker Books 1999)
Mouse and Mole Series
- Mouse And Mole (Transworld 1993)
- Mouse And Mole Have A Party (Transworld 1993)
- Happy Days For Mouse & Mole (Transworld 1996)
- A Very Special Mouse & Mole (Transworld 1996)
- Hip-Dip-Dip With Mouse And Mole (Transworld 2000)
- The Ups And Downs Of Mouse And Mole (Transworld 2001)