Hello! I’m Claire Barker and I live in a little village in North Devon, England. I write magical stories and paint pictures in a hut at the end of my wild garden.

I’m mad about the seasons, the plants and the creatures on our doorstep. I want to share this passion with children, inspiring them to love the natural world around them as much as I do.

When I was little I didn’t understand that telling stories could be a job. All I knew was that stories – whether it was writing, reading in my head or aloud – made me very happy indeed. I never ran out of ideas. I could make a story out of anything; a nut, a leaf, a feather. My imagination has always been like a gushing tap.

I did various jobs before I became an author. I have a degree in English Literature and History. I’ve been a teaching assistant, an English tutor, a waitress, a childminder, an adult literacy volunteer, a puppeteer and a painter. I once even worked untangling the fur of Persian cats in a spooky mansion.

But now I have the best job of all.

Author of #PicklewitchandJack, @clairebarker told us all about how nature inspired her story and her characters 🧙‍♀️ 🌰 🐛 🦉🌲 🔭 pic.twitter.com/HRdPqaNjR3

— Faber Children’s (@FaberChildrens) October 11, 2018

If you would like to know about my typical writing day, here is a link to a blog post I wrote for the Faber Children’s site. I paint a bit too.

The Hare and the Harvest Moon by Claire Barker

Here’s a podcast I recorded with Jo of Library Girl and Book Boy https://anchor.fm/librarygirl/episodes/An-interview-with-the-PickleWitch-and-Knitbone-Pepper-author–Claire-Barker-e8ap8l?fbclid=IwAR0Zz35G4kuKTrfzbiPFdqS9oLcH9Vp648pVPo3OcuGHmirBEgN8qTTlCTI There are some children reviews, right at the end too.