New Zealand Writers

RANDELL, Beverley

One of New Zealand’s most treasured and influential writers of children’s books.

RANDELL, Beverley (1931-) is an internationally recognised author of books for children. To date, sixteen publishers, in several languages, in six countries, have published her books. Her total sales approach forty million.

Randell was born and educated in Wellington. She completed a BA in English and History at Victoria University College and went on to work as a primary teacher. In 1959 she married Hugh Price, of the publishers Price Milburn.

In 1962 Randell began to write and edit books for children in the early stages of reading. In the course of her staggeringly successful career, Randell’s major achievement has been the writing of proper stories for 5 year-olds who have the very minimum of reading skills. Before 1960 most early school reading books had been relatively meaningless repetitive reading exercises. In contrast Randell was able to produce satisfying plots with tension, climax and resolution. Dennis McEldowney has praised this “genius for devising…infant readers which used minimal vocabularies to tell actual stories’.

Too numerous to list, a complete list of Randell’s hundreds of books is available on the National Library of New Zealand website. Her most recent titles include: Survivors in the frozen north (2002), The man who rode a tiger (2002), Baby Bear’s real name (2003), When dinosaurs ruled the earth (2003).

The origins of Randell’s interest in children’s books written are explained by her daughter, Susan Price, in her book Books for Life (1991).

Randell has also published A Crowded Thorndon Cottage: The Story of William and Sarah Randell and their Ten Children (1992). The publication of this family history led to the purchase and restoration of the historic cottage. More information about the cottage is available in the pamphlet published by the Randell Cottage Writers Trust (2003). The trust works in partnership with the French Embassy in offering Randell Cottage as a residency for a French writer for six months each year. A New Zealand writer occupies the Randell Cottage for the other half of the year.

Beverley Randell lives in Wellington.

(LK)

Updated Information

Beverley Randell was invested with a New Zealand Order of Merit in 2004 for services to children's literature and education.

She was also awarded the French National Order of Merit in 2005, in recognition of her role in the development of relations and friendship between New Zealand and France.

By early 2008, Randell's total sales were about two hundred million books, worldwide.