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Francesca Simon

Children's author Francesca Simon is interviewed by Kirsty Young for Desert Island Discs.

Kirsty Young's castaway is the children's author Francesca Simon.

Educated at Yale and Oxford she initially thought she'd pursue an academic life - but within weeks of her son's birth, found that ideas for children's stories started flowing. She's now written twenty books featuring her creation Horrid Henry and they sell in their millions.

She sees Horrid Henry as sitting within the long tradition of anarchic characters in children's literature. She says: "Everyone responds to Henry because I think everyone feels - however conventional they seem on the outside - that they are rebellious and unconventional, and Henry really taps into that."

Producer: Leanne Buckle.

Available now

45 minutes

Last on

Fri 11 Nov 2011 09:00

Music Played

  • The Beach Boys

    Surfin' USA

    Composer: Berry/Wilson

    • California Gold: The Very Best Of The Beach Boys CD1.
    • EMI.
  • Jacques Brel

    Amsterdam

    Composer: Jacques Brel

    • Quand on N鈥檃gue l鈥檃mour.
    • Barclay.
  • Emma Kirkby

    Columba Aspexit from a Feather on the Breath of God

    Composer: Abbess Hildegard of Bingen

    • Hildegard of Bingen :A Feather on the Breath of God.
    • Hyperion.
  • Joan Baez

    The Trees they Grow So High

    Composer: Traditional

    • Joan Baez Vol.2.
    • Vanquad.
  • The Judds

    Why Not Me

    Composer: Harlan Howard, Sonny Throckmorton, and Brent Maher

    • Why Not Me.
    • Curb.
  • [theatre]

    Slap That Bass from Crazy for You

    Composer: George and Ira Gershwin

    • Crazy for You.
    • Cast.
  • Jonathan Dove

    Tobias and the Angel

    Artist: Darren Abrahams and James Laing with the Young Vic Chorus & Ensemble conducted by David Charles Abell.

    • Tobias and the Angel.
    • Chandos.
  • Castaway's Favourite

    • Mandy Patinkin

      Finishing the Hat

      Composer: Stephen Sondheim

      • Sunday in the Park with George.
      • Masterworks Broadway.
  • Book Choice

    • The Eustace Diamonds - Anthony Trollope

  • Luxury Choice

    • Cappuccino maker

Credits

Role Contributor
Presenter Kirsty Young
Interviewed Guest Francesca Simon

Broadcasts

  • Sun 6 Nov 2011 11:15
  • Fri 11 Nov 2011 09:00

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