Alex T. Smith (born (1985-08-02)2 August 1985) is a British author and
illustrator of children's books, including Primrose, Egg, Ella, and the Claude book series. He was the illustrator for
World Book Day 2014 in September 2013.[1] His books have been published in several languages including Welsh,[2] French,[3] German,[4] Swedish,[5] Italian,[6] Hungarian[7] and Chinese.[8]
Claude is a dog. Claude is a small dog. Claude is a small, plump dog. Claude is a small, plump dog who wears a beret and a lovely jumper...
— Alex T. Smith
The adventures of Claude were published in a series of 10 books from 2011 to 2016. Recurring characters include Sir Bobblysock who accompanies Claude, and Mr & Mrs Shinyshoes, Claude's owners.
Claude was chosen as one of Clara Vulliamy's five favorite fictional characters [10] and appears on gift cards produced by
National Book Tokens.[11]
In October 2013, it was announced that Claude had been optioned by
Sixteen South for television[12] aimed at boys and girls aged 4–6, and premiered on
Disney Junior in June 2018.[13]
Bibliography
Eliot Jones, Midnight Superhero (2009) - illustrator; text by Anne Cottringer
Home (2010)
My Mum has X-Ray Vision (2010) - illustrator; text by Angela McAllister
Bella and Monty: A Hairy, Scary Night (2010)
Egg (2011)
Fantastic Frankie and the Brain-drain Machine (2011) - illustrator; text by Anna Kemp
Ella (2012)
Eliot, Midnight Superhero (2012 revised edition) - illustrator; text by Anne Cottringer
Happy Birthday, Bunny! (2012) - illustrator; text by Anna Schaub
Grave Matter (2017) - illustrator; text by
Juno Dawson
How Winston Delivered Christmas: A Christmas Story in Twenty-Four-and-a-Half Chapters (2019)
Tom & MattSeries
The Baddie (2010) - illustrator; text by Anna Maxted
The Horrible Princess (2010) - illustrator; text by Anna Maxted
ClaudeSeries
Claude in the City (2011)
Claude on Holiday (2011) (republished as 'Claude at the Beach')
Claude at the Circus (2012)
Claude in the Country (2012)
Claude in the Spotlight (2013)
Claude on the Slopes (2013)
Claude at Sea (2016) (picture book)
Claude: Lights! Camera! Action! (2016)
Claude Going for Gold (2016)
Santa Claude (2016)
Claude at the Palace (2020)
Mr PenguinSeries
Mr Penguin and the Lost Treasure (2017)
Mr Penguin and the Fortress of Secrets (2018)
Mr Penguin and the Catastrophic Cruise (2019)
Mr Penguin and the Tomb of Doom (2021)
Critical reception of books
Catch Us If You Can-Can has been called "hilarious"[15] by
The Guardian.
Claude in the Spotlight is thought of as "a very funny book, with lots of great pictures" by
The Guardian[16] and
Booktrust described it as "An utterly charming book for emerging readers."[17] Metro appreciated the "quirky illustrations and plenty of humour."[18]
Claude in the City reminded Martin Chilton writing in
The Telegraph of "the fine stories of
Allan Ahlberg."[19] TheBookBag "loved everything about this book" and especially enjoyed the sense of fun, and how rich the text and pictures were for younger readers.".[20] Claude in the City was described by the kidlit blog, There's a Book, as the "perfect transition from picture books to chapter books."[21]
Awards and recognitions
2006 Second prize in the Macmillan Prize for Children's Picture Book Illustration.[22]