Selection Panel Biographies

• Selection Panel

Booked Up 2008

Selection Panel Biographies

The Booked Up books were selected by a panel of experts.

Wendy Cooling (chair)

Children's Book Consultant Wendy Cooling (Chair) was originally an English teacher in inner-London secondary schools. In 1990, she left teaching to join The Children's Book Foundation (now Booktrust) running a range of projects to promote reading, including Bookstart for which she continues to act as Senior Consultant. Wendy works with many children's book publishers, reviewing books, running in-service training sessions for teachers and librarians and working with children of all ages on reading-related projects. She is the editor of several story and poetry anthologies.

Rebecca Wilkie, Booktrust, London

Rebecca Wilkie is the editor of Booktrust’s children’s books website; she also manages the Big Picture campaign, which aims to promote and reawaken public interest in picture books. Rebecca read English at University College London and has worked in children’s books for the last six years.

Check out the Booktrust Children's books website.

Judi James Teacher / Librarian, Wolverhampton

Judi James has thirty years experience in education. She trained as a Primary School Teacher and has taught Infants, Middle School pupils and Secondary school pupils. Whether as Class Teacher, Middle Infants Co-ordinator, Art Co-ordinator, Senco, (Y5 -Y13) or Director of Literacy, the importance of reading for pleasure and its positive benefit on reading skills has been central to her role. In September 2005 she introduced a KS3 Reading challenge, to her students called ‘Rev Up for Reading’ in which pages earned prizes. Each month students won an activity prize. The local Speedway and the local Theatre supported the challenge with tickets and other prizes ranged from, day fishing trips to micro light flights. She is currently encouraging whole school reading for pleasure as Teacher /Library Manager, having recently designed and stocked the brand new Secondary School Library. She believes that reading is a universal source of shared pleasure.

Malorie Blackman, author, London

After a number of rejection letters , her first novel, Not So Stupid! was published. It was selected for the 1991 Feminist Book Fortnight, and Malorie participated in the first BBC TV Black Women’s Screenwriting Workshop in 1991. She has written a number of books for young readers, including the Whizziwig series, which have been dramatised successfully for children’s television. Her other popular books are Pig Heart Boy, and the critically acclaimed Noughts and Crosses trilogy.

In her spare time, Malorie likes going to the cinema, the theatre and watching TV. She enjoys playing computer and board games, and reads absolutely everything...except Westerns.

Find out more about Malorie at http://www.malorieblackman.co.uk

Edward Pugh, teacher, London

Ed is a Yr 6 primary school teacher in Wandsworth, London, a job he really loves. He switched careers to become a teacher in 2000 after working for 10 years helping to organise and promote sport events worldwide, such as the English Football League Cup, The Stella Artois Tennis and The Safari Rally, Kenya. Before that Ed worked for an exciting two years diving on shipwrecks in Holland, Bermuda and the UK, having read Archaeology at Durham University (1984-1987) and Maritime Archaeology at St. Andrews University (1989). He grew up in rural Worcestershire and Cameroon, West Africa and now lives in London with his wife Susie, his two daughters, a Jack Russell Terrier and two hamsters. He enjoys reading, cycling, remote Hebridean islands, walking, diving for scallops and being with his family.