Wendy Cooling

Wendy Cooling (1941-2020) taught English in London secondary schools for many years before moving to BookTrust, a charity that supports reading to children and adults. There she founded Bookstart, their flagship national programme that gives books to babies and toddlers to encourage parents and carers to foster a lifelong a love of reading. Wendy edited many short story and poetry anthologies for children and travelled the world talking about children's books and the importance of reading. In 2006 she won the Eleanor Farjeon Award for her outstanding contribution to children's literature, and was honoured to receive an MBE from the Queen in 2009. Wendy died in June 2020, aged 78.