Margaret Mahy

Posted by Helen Brain Apr 8, 2008

I love Margaret Mahy. Her picture book, 'The Man whose Mother Was a Pirate' is my second favourite of all time. She's written more about pirates in 'The Great Pirate Rumbustification'.

Not only does she have a completely whacky imagination, she also plays with words, inventing new ones, putting the most unexpected ones together, creating a second layer of story. She's particularly clever because young children love to play with language, and her touch is light and witty.

The biography by Tessa Duder (Margaret Mahy: A Writer's Life; Harper Collins 2005) is a great book if you want to know more about this engaging and unconventional New Zealand writer.

My latest article looks at how she found her inspiration for one of her picture books. You can also read about what writers can learn from her.