Helen Craig (born 30 August 1934) is an English children's book illustrator and writer. She is best known for creating the

Angelina Ballerina ''Angelina Ballerina'' is a children's book series by author Katharine Holabird and illustrator Helen Craig about a fictional mouse (full name Angelina Jeanette Mouseling) who is training to become a ballerina. The first book in the series was p ...

series of children's books with writer

Katharine Holabird Katharine Holabird (born January 23, 1948) is an American writer, best known as the author of the ''Angelina Ballerina'' series, illustrated by Helen Craig, and the ''Twinkle'' series, illustrated by Sharon Williams. Early life and education Bo ...

. Craig was born in London, evacuated during World War II and educated in

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

, then from 1943 at King Alfred's School in

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

, then in London. During the 1950s she worked as a portrait photographer in North London, then moved to Spain for 3 years, where she began making ceramic sculptures. Returning to the UK in 1967, she began illustrating children's books in 1970. The first book which she had both written and illustrated was ''The Mouse House ABC'', published in 1977. With co-author Sarah Hayes she created "Bear", a popular children's character who appears in ''This Is The Bear'' (1986), ''This Is The Bear and the Picnic Lunch'' (1988), and ''This Is The Bear and the Scary Night'' (1992). Currently Craig has returned to the medium of sculpture and is making small figurative works. Craig is the daughter of the film designer and writer

Edward Carrick Edward Carrick (born Edward Anthony Craig; 3 January 1905 – 21 January 1998) was an English art designer for film, an author and illustrator. Carrick was born in London. His father was Edward Gordon Craig, the theatre practitioner and stage d ...

. Her great-grandmother was the stage actress

Ellen Terry Dame Alice Ellen Terry, (27 February 184721 July 1928), was a leading English actress of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Born into a family of actors, Terry began performing as a child, acting in Shakespeare plays in London, and tour ...

and her grandfather was theatrical scenic designer

Edward Gordon Craig Edward Henry Gordon CraigSome sources give "Henry Edward Gordon Craig". (born Edward Godwin; 16 January 1872 – 29 July 1966), sometimes known as Gordon Craig, was an English modernist theatre practitioner; he worked as an actor, director and ...

. One of her great-grandfathers was

Gaetano Meo Gaetano Giuseppe Faostino Meo (1849, Basilicata, Italy – 16 January 1925, London, United Kingdom) was an Italian-British artist's model, landscape painter, and a noted craftsman in mosaic and stained glass. His unpublished autobiography is ...

(1850–1925) an

artist's model An art model poses, often nude, for visual artists as part of the creative process, providing a reference for the human body in a work of art. As an occupation, modeling requires the often strenuous ' physical work' of holding poses for the requ ...

, painter and mosaicist, associated with the Pre-Raphelites. In 2018, with the assistance of mosaicist Tessa Hunkin, Craig restored the mosaic gravestone in

Hampstead Cemetery Hampstead Cemetery is a historic cemetery in West Hampstead, London, located at the upper extremity of the NW6 district. Despite the name, the cemetery is three-quarters of a mile from Hampstead Village, and bears a different postcode. It is j ...

which Meo created for his wife Agnes Morton and young son, under which he is also buried.

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Helen Craig
at publisher Penguin Books (US) * 1934 births Living people English illustrators English writers Writers from London Terry family {{UK-illustrator-stub

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