Penny Dale

{{Infobox person

| name = Penny Dale

| image =

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| birth_name =

| birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1954}}

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| occupation = Illustrator; author

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| notable_works = Ten in the Bed

| awards = Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Award; Kate Greenaway Medal (commended)

| website = {{URL|pennydale.co.uk}}

}}

Penny Dale (born 1954 in London) is an English illustrator and writer of children's books.

Background

Dale studied Fine Arts and graduated from Exeter College of Art and Design. She moved to South East Wales in 1982, and currently resides in Caerleon, a village in Newport. Dale is married and has one daughter.{{Cite web |author= |title=About |url=http://www.pennydale.co.uk/about.html |publisher=Penny Dale (pennydale.co.uk) |accessdate=20 March 2010}}

Career

Her picture books as author-illustrator include Ten in the Bed, which won the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Award in 2002, Wake Up Mr. B! which was commended for the Kate Greenaway Medal, and more recently her Dinosaur series with Nosy Crow.{{cite web |title=Children's Book Review: Ten in the Bed by Penny Dale |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-7636-1575-8 |website=Publishers Weekly |access-date=5 June 2021}}{{cite news |last1=Kellaway |first1=Kate |title=The best children's books 2–4 year olds |url=https://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/gallery/2012/jul/27/best-summer-picture-books |website=The Guardian |date=27 July 2012 |access-date=5 June 2021}}

She has also illustrated books by other writers, including Anne Fine and Martin Waddell.

Dale's illustrations for Rosie's Babies, a picture book written by Waddell which aims to introduce children to the idea of a new sibling, were shortlisted for the Kate Greenaway Medal in 1990.{{cite web |title=Children's Book Review: Rosie's Babies by Martin Waddell and Penny Dale |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-7636-0718-0 |website=Publishers Weekly |access-date=5 June 2021}}

In 2003 Dale illustrated Anne Fine's Jamie and Angus, a book of short stories for young readers rooted in the domestic concerns of one child. The book won the Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards.{{cite web |title=Past Boston-Globe Horn Book Award Winners |url=https://www.hbook.com/?detailStory=past-boston-globe-horn-book-award-winners |website=The Horn Book |access-date=6 June 2021}}

Ten in the Bed is Dale's best-known book. According to her publisher, as of 2013 the book had sold "nearly two million copies".{{cite web |last1=Reid |first1=Camilla |title=25 years of Ten-in-the-Bed |url=https://nosycrow.com/blog/25-years-of-10-in-the-bed/ |website=Nosy Crow |date=19 September 2013 |access-date=5 November 2021}} It led to two sequels, Ten Out of Bed and Ten Play Hide and Seek.

In 2018 Ten in the Bed became the first CBeebies bedtime story to be signed in Makaton. It was performed by Rob Delaney and aired on the BBC channel in November.{{cite news |title=CBeebies Bedtime Stories airs its first ever signed episode |work=BBC News |date=13 November 2018 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-46194526 |access-date=5 June 2021}}