Emma Carlisle author page

Emma Carlisle biography

Emma Carlisle is a UK-based children’s author and illustrator. She holds a First Class Honours degree in Illustration from the University of Plymouth (2011) and an MA in Children’s Book Illustration from Cambridge School of Art, with full distinctions.

She works as a lecturer in children’s illustration at the University of Plymouth. Carlisle lives in Plymouth and draws inspiration from the coastline, sketching in Devon and Cornwall landscapes.

Her debut picture book, Lion Practice, was published in 2015. It was nominated for the Kate Greenaway Medal and the Klaus Flugge Prize. Her second book, Bears at the Beach, followed in 2016.

In 2022, her book What Do You See When You Look At a Tree? was shortlisted for the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize. Her book Time Runs Like a River won the Award of Excellence in Literature for Children from the Council on Botanical and Horticultural Libraries in 2024.