Ellis Young
An avid collector of Children's Literature, Ellis Young turned to writing following a decade working with SEN and EBD children in North London. A former musician and songwriter with years of stage experience and worldwide tours under his belt, Ellis penned a book as a farewell gift to the children at his day unit and hasn't stopped writing since. His aim is simple, to get children to delight in the sounds of language.
"I've always been drawn to the playfulness of words, the pleasure of bouncing them around in your mouth. It draws children into reading as a performance, words not just read but exploded off the page, echoed, twisted and collided like sonic fireworks."
Ellis has recently completed three new books ready for consideration, There's A Lion At The End Of Our Playground, Baboon On A Spoon and The House Made Entirely of Hair with several others already in the pipeline. All combine aspirational narratives with a healthy dose of the ludicrous and slapstick, held together with threads of wordplay. He is currently working on a second Baboon book called Baboon On Basoon, about an unruly animal orchestra whose performance descends into chaos as they compete to upstage each other.
Ellis likes to run all his ideas past his 6 year old daughter. She is his most honest and appreciative critic and they enjoy writing songs and poems together as they walk along the river that runs through their small holding in North Devon, with their dog, Toffle.
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Photos credit: Gem Hall @gemhallimage