World-famous author Babette Cole at book-signing

Saturday 11th September 2010

World-famous children's book author and illlustrator Babette Cole will visit the Mill to sign books and read from her new best-selling series Fetlocks Hall.  Babette is one of the exhibitors in the Mill gallery's current exhibition "Telling Tales", which showcases work by artists who work with illustration or tell stories through their art.  Babette is showing a number of original drawings and prints.  There is also an extensive range of beautiful cards featuring her drawings, calendars, pens and books.

Babette will be in the Mill gallery between 2.30pm to 4pm on Saturday 11th September.

For more information about the current exhibition, click here.

Background about Babette

"I was born on a little island called Jersey in 1950. I went to school in a convent where I spent most of my time drawing pictures and writing stories.

I got fed up with school so I left and went to Art School at Canterbury in England. I left there in 1973 with a first class honours degree.

I made friends with Peter Firmin and Oliver Postgate who were making Children's TV programmes for the BBC. They gave me my first proper job drawing for Jackanory and TV comics.

Then, since I had some work published by the BBC,  I could go to other publishers with my own books and finally got one published in 1976.

It did very well so it wasn't difficult to get books published after that because publishers knew I could make money for them.

Since then I have written over 70 books!

The most famous one is called "Mummy Laid an Egg".  It sold a million copies!

I have lived in different parts of the world like Africa and the West Indies. I now live in Dorset in England and stay with family if I return to the West Indies.

I have a stud farm in England and I breed Show Hunters which I ride myself. I have been riding show ponies and horses since I was seven years old. I do a lot of side saddle riding - My little horse, Hot Tip (Scrappit) and I have been the National Champions for the past three years."