©Anne Mortensen
Elizabeth Laird
Elizabeth Laird is an award-winning children’s author. Born in New Zealand to Scottish parents, she has lived and worked in Ethiopia, Malaysia, Iraq, Lebanon and Austria, and has travelled extensively in India, Palestine, Jordan and Pakistan. She has written over 30 novels for children and has won many awards, including the Children’s Book Award and the Scottish Children’s Book Award, and has been shortlisted six times for the CILIP Carnegie Medal as well as for many international awards. Her books have been translated into more than 20 languages. Elizabeth Laird has been a judge of the Walter Scott Prize since its inception in 2009.
Books by Elizabeth Laird
“The story of a young girl, Ayesha, living in war-torn Beirut. Her father is away and her mother has been killed. Ayesha and her younger brother live alone with their grandmother.” Read more...
The best books on Courage and Kindness for Kids
Beverley Naidoo, Children's Author
Interviews with Elizabeth Laird
The Best Historical Fiction: The 2022 Walter Scott Prize Shortlist, recommended by Elizabeth Laird
Every year, the Walter Scott Prize highlights the best new historical novels. In 2022, the shortlist comprises four fantastic works of historical fiction that immerse the reader in the past—from 16th-century Scotland to 1920s Trinidad—while confronting universal human dramas we still struggle with today. Elizabeth Laird, one of the judges, talks us through their choices this year.
Interviews where books by Elizabeth Laird were recommended
The best books on Courage and Kindness for Kids, recommended by Beverley Naidoo
Fairy tales and stories of courage and survival can help children understand that although there are injustices in the world there are ways in which they can make a difference – however small. The award-winning author Beverley Naidoo recommends five great books in which kindness triumphs over adversity.
