Richard Kidd

Richard Kidd was born in 1952 in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. He studied Fine Art at Newcastle University and then painted and exhibited in Rome, London, San Francisco and New York.

Richard wrote and illustrated his first book, ALMOST FAMOUS DAISY!, as a visual adventure story taking children inside famous paintings. It was published by Frances Lincoln in 1996 and was shortlisted for The Mother Goose Award. This was followed by another picture book MONSIEUR THERMIDOR, the story of a lobster chef, inspired and later illustrated by his then wife Lindsey’s salt dough models.

More recently, Richard wrote thriller novels for 8-11s, published in Transworld’s Corgi Yearling series. The first was THE GIANT GOLDFISH ROBBERY, which was shortlisted for the Branford Boase Award. This led to Richard writing about the further adventures of Jimmy Stoker, the hero of THE GIANT GOLDFISH ROBBERY in DEADLY FAMOUS and THE TIGER BONE THIEF, followed by another gripping mystery, THE LAST LEG.

Richard Kidd died in a swimming accident in the Philippines in July 2008.

When Claude goes to the Isle of Skye for a quiet holiday with his dad and aunt after the death of his mother, he expects his only adventures to be in his imagination. But after hundreds of shop dummies are washed up on the beach, two dangerous-looking Italians turn up and things look sinister.