Julia Eccleshare MBE (born 1951) is a British journalist and writer on the subject of

children's books A child ( : children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younge ...

. She has been Children's Books editor for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' newspaper for more than ten years, at least from 2000. She is also an editorial contributor and advisor for the website Love Reading 4 Kids. She is a recipient of the

Eleanor Farjeon Award The Eleanor Farjeon Award is made for distinguished service to the world of British children's books and is given to someone whose commitment and contribution is deemed to be outstanding. Founded in 1966, it is presented annually in memory of the ce ...

Life and career

Eccleshare was born in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

and grew up in

North London North London is the northern part of London, England, north of the River Thames. It extends from Clerkenwell and Finsbury, on the edge of the City of London financial district, to Greater London's boundary with Hertfordshire. The term ''nor ...

, the third of four children of Colin Eccleshare, a publisher with

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press in the world. It is also the King's Printer. Cambridge University Pre ...

, and Liz, a history teacher. Eccleshare was children's book editor of the ''

Times Literary Supplement ''The Times Literary Supplement'' (''TLS'') is a weekly literary review published in London by News UK, a subsidiary of News Corp. History The ''TLS'' first appeared in 1902 as a supplement to '' The Times'' but became a separate publication ...

'' from 1974 to 1978."Children's Books of the Year 1989"
(bookseller display). ''waterstones.com''. Includes "Synopsis" that is partly about the author. She served as non-fiction and picture book editor at

Penguin Books Penguin Books is a British publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers The Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the following year.Puffin Books Puffin Books is a longstanding children's imprint of the British publishers Penguin Books. Since the 1960s, it has been among the largest publishers of children's books in the UK and much of the English-speaking world. The imprint now belongs t ...

from 1978 to 1980, and as fiction editor at Hamish Hamilton children's books from 1980 to 1984, before returning to freelance book reviewing."1001 Children's Books To Read Before You Grow Up: Classic Stories For Kids (Paperback)"
(bookseller display for 2009 Cassell Illustrated edition). ''amazon.com''. Retrieved 28 January 2011. Includes "Product Description" that is "About the Author". She selected hundreds of books for ''Children's Books of the Year'' from 1985 to 1993."BfK News – July 1985"
''

Books for Keeps ''Books for Keeps'' is a British online magazine covering children's books. The annual exhibition and annotated list had been established circa 1970 by the National Book League (later renamed Booktrust) and had missed one year before its 1985 resumption. Eccleshare has also served on many

book award A literary award or literary prize is an award presented in recognition of a particularly lauded literary piece or body of work. It is normally presented to an author. Organizations Most literary awards come with a corresponding award ceremony. ...

panels including the Whitbread Children's Book Award in 2001, and chaired the

Nestlé Smarties Book Prize The Nestlé Children's Book Prize, and Nestlé Smarties Book Prize for a time, was a set of annual awards for British children's books that ran from 1985 to 2007. It was administered by BookTrust, an independent charity that promotes books and ...

panel from 2001 to its conclusion in 2007. In 2000 she co-founded the

Branford Boase Award The Branford Boase Award is a British literary award presented annually to an outstanding children's or young-adult novel by a first-time writer; "the most promising book for seven year-olds and upwards by a first time novelist." The award is sha ...

for an outstanding novel for young people by a first-time writer, and continues to chair its panel of judges. At least from 2000 to 2012, she chairs the panel of three children's writers who judge the

Guardian Children's Fiction Prize The Guardian Children's Fiction Prize or Guardian Award was a literary award that annual recognised one fiction book written for children or young adults (at least age eight) and published in the United Kingdom. It was conferred upon the author ...

. In 2000 she won the

in recognition of "her outstanding contribution to children's books".Julia Eccleshare journalist profile
''

''. Retrieved 28 January 2011. Eccleshare is currently children's books editor for ''

'' newspaper, and also regularly appears on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

's '' Open Book'' and '' Front Row'' programmes. In 2014 she was appointed Head of Policy and Advocacy for Public Lending Right. She was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE) in the

2014 Birthday Honours The 2014 Birthday Honours were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as part of ...

for services to children's literature. She was an awarded an Honorary Doctor of Letters (DLitt, Hons) by the University of Worcester in 2014. She is married and has four children, and lives in London.

Books

Eccleshare covered the Harry Potter series for Continuum (Contemporary classics of children's literature) when four volumes were in print. Following an introduction on "major success in children's books", Enid Blyton and others, she interpreted the Potter stories (part 2) and the Potter phenomenon including its impact on writing for children (parts 3–5). Two

WorldCat WorldCat is a union catalog that itemizes the collections of tens of thousands of institutions (mostly libraries), in many countries, that are current or past members of the OCLC global cooperative. It is operated by OCLC, Inc. Many of the O ...

library records with different "Contents"
"Guide to the Harry Potter novels" (1)"Guide to the Harry Potter novels" (2)

Selected works

* ''Children's Books of the Year'', 1985; 1986; 1987; 1988; 1989; 1990; 1991; 1992; 1993 (London: National Book League/ Booktrust/Children's Book Foundation; in association with

Andersen Press Andersen Press is a British book publishing company. It was founded in 1976 by Klaus Flugge, and was named after Hans Christian Andersen "because it is easier to pronounce and spell than Flugge". Random House has a holding in the company and a s ...

from 1988) —catalogues of the annual exhibition * ''Treasure Islands: the

Woman's Hour ''Woman's Hour'' is a radio magazine programme broadcast in the United Kingdom on the BBC Light Programme, BBC Radio 2, and later BBC Radio 4. It has been on the air since 1946. History Created by Norman Collins and originally presented by ...

guide to Children's reading'' (

BBC Books BBC Books (also formerly known as BBC Publishing) is an imprint majority-owned and managed by Penguin Random House through its Ebury Publishing division. The minority shareholder is BBC Studios, the commercial subsidiary of the British Broadcasti ...

, 1988) * ''British literature for young people: a bibliography 1990–2000'' (

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lan ...

, 2001) * ''A guide to the Harry Potter novels'' ( Continuum, 2002, Contemporary Classics of Children's Literature series) * ''

Beatrix Potter Helen Beatrix Potter (, 28 July 186622 December 1943) was an English writer, illustrator, natural scientist, and conservationist. She is best known for her children's books featuring animals, such as '' The Tale of Peter Rabbit'', which was ...

to Harry Potter: portraits of children's writers'' ( National Portrait Gallery, 2002) —catalogue of an exhibition * ''The Rough Guide to books for teenagers'' (London:

Rough Guides Rough Guides Ltd is a British travel guide book and reference publisher, which has been owned by APA Publications since November 2017. In addition to publishing guidebooks, the company also provides a tailor-made trips service based on custome ...

, 2002, ), by Eccleshare and Nicholas Tucker —"more than 200 books reviewed" * '' 1001 children's books you must read before you grow up'' ( Cassell, 2009, )

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eccleshare, Julia 1951 births Living people British literary critics British women literary critics British women journalists Children's literature criticism Date of birth missing (living people) Members of the Order of the British Empire The Guardian journalists