Stripy Horse Picture Books

2007-10 Egmont Press. Illustrated by Karen Wall

“A gorgeous book, one that adults will enjoy as much as the children in their lives… A real treat.” Sunday Express

One starry night, in a long-forgotten shop, something magical was about to happen…

2008 Dundee Picture Book Award Winner

2007 Practical Parenting Pre-School Awards Silver Medal Winner

Audiobook - read by Imelda Staunton

CBeebies Storytime - read by Clare Balding, Fiona Shaw, Dervla Kirwan, Liz White and Hermione Norris, and on CBeebies radio read by Jane Horrocks

Punchdrunk Enrichment Theatre - Immersive classroom installations at primary schools to support speech and language development

Extensive range of licensed Stripy Horse toys, gifts and stationery

Karen Wall and I began working on the first Stripy Horse story, way back in 2006. As well as illustrating books, Karen also designs soft toys, and one particular horse she’d made was our favourite. I decided to try and write a story about him, describing where he came from and what his friends might be like. Immediately, this became a tale of a horse on a hunt for his name.

I combined the story of our new Stripy Horse with one of my own childhood teddies. This bear didn’t have a name, so I called him ‘Cotton’ because that was the only word I could read on his faded wash-care tag. At the end of the first Stripy Horse story, our hero eventually discovers his name by reading his own label. Say hello to Hand Wash!

Stripy Horse is one of the most exciting characters I’ve helped create, and his adventures in a dusty, old bric-a-brac shop are fantastic fun to write. Whether he’s on the hunt for troublesome jigsaw puzzle monkeys, or stopping a confused weather-vane parrot from causing indoor snowstorms, you can always rely on Stripy Horse to save the day.