Over the past six years, David Bedford has published 30 books, with translations in 20 languages. The books range from best-selling picture books such as Big Bear, Little Bear, to The Team series of short comic novels for 7 to 11-year-olds about a struggling football team that enlists the help of a professor and her football-playing robot.
Bedford has a Ph.D. in Gene Cloning from the University of East Anglia and is a member of the National Association of Writers in Education (NAWE) and the National Centre for Language and Literacy.
He spoke about his writing and the direction it is taking.
When did you decide you wanted to be a writer?
When I first became an avid reader, around the age of 16, I read Tolkien's Lord of the Rings and decided to have a go myself... much later, while I was a scientist at Stanford University in the U.S., I began writing seriously, with the idea of making a career out of it.
Who would you say has influenced you the most?
I mainly write children's picture books, and the most influential writer for me in this genre is Martin Waddell, who wrote Owl Babies and many other great books.
What are your main concerns as a writer?
I try to write stories that are "true," that reflect real life. Because I write for children, this means that my stories are set thoroughly in a world children understand; my stories are concerned with the daily issues children encounter.
How have your personal experiences influenced the direction of your writing?
My first books for children were published before I had children of my own - these were mostly traditional entertaining kinds of stories, to make people laugh. Since my children were born, my writing has moved in new directions and my books are now, more than ever, attuned the world of children, and often the relationship between parents and children.
What would you say are the biggest challenges you face?
Article comments
1 - Natalie Bennett
This article has been selected for syndication to Advance.net, which is affiliated with newspapers around the United States. Nice work!