Krailing, Tessa

About the author

Tessa Krailing, who died in 2003, wrote more than forty children’s books. She worked as a drama production secretary at the BBC, and as a teacher for fifteen years before becoming an author. Her first book, A Dinosaur Called Minerva (1980), went, she said, to about ten publishers before Scholastic picked it up. She went on to write books mostly aimed at younger children, including three with some horsey content. Her Petsitters’ Club series, which numbered ten books plus two specials, included two horse titles, and she also wrote My First Pony, in which a boy gets a pony – not a common event in pony literature.

Her friend, fellow author Diana Kimpton, said of her after her death: ‘Her greatest success was the creation of the Wellington Square scheme for children who are finding reading difficult. It has helped many young people discover the joy of books and she always loved receiving letters from them. Tessa’s sense of humour showed in her writing and carried her through a long and painful illness. Her laughter, her company and her support will be missed by many people.’

Finding the books
Easy to find in all their editions.

Sources and links
Tessa Krailing at Curtis Brown
An interview with Tessa Krailing on Wordpool (no longer accessible)
Tessa Krailing at Achokablog