Narinder Dhami
Encyclopedia
Narinder Dhami is a British
children’s author.
n immigrant from the Punjab
who arrived in the UK in 1954, and her mother is English. She grew up in a multi-cultural environment, with Asian Indian and western cultures both major influences in her life, and was educated at Wolverhampton Girls' High School
and Birmingham University, where she graduated in English in 1980.
and in the London borough of Waltham Forest. During this time, she began writing stories for teenage magazines, and contributed many photo-stories to the now-defunct Jackie
magazine, published by DC Thomson.
Eventually, Narinder gave up teaching for a full-time writing job. For the last few years, she has been writing contemporary realistic fiction about children growing up in Britain. Her Babes quartet about three British Asian girls is extremely popular with girls between 9 and 14 years of age. She writes a wide range of children's books for pre-teens on other subjects and now increasingly for older teens too. Her characters reflect the British urban ethnic mix but the books discuss racism only when relevant as Narinder believes most younger children want to have fun when they read rather than be subjected to adult agendas.
Books for 2009 included a teen thriller 'Bang, Bang You're Dead!' May 2009, which won or was shortlisted for large number of book awards in 2010, and the first book in a series of six for 9+ readers called 'The Beautiful Game' about girls' football. A further 4 books in the series were published in 2010 and the last of the six appeared in Jan 2011.
Narinder Dhami is one of the two remaining authors of the internationally successful Rainbow Magic
series, written under the name of Daisy Meadows
. Her most famous and biggest selling book was 'Bend it Like Beckham', a novelisation of the film.
She now lives in Shropshire
with her husband and her cats.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
children’s author.
Early life
Dhami's father was an IndiaIndia
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n immigrant from the Punjab
Punjab (India)
Punjab ) is a state in the northwest of the Republic of India, forming part of the larger Punjab region. The state is bordered by the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh to the east, Haryana to the south and southeast and Rajasthan to the southwest as well as the Pakistani province of Punjab to the...
who arrived in the UK in 1954, and her mother is English. She grew up in a multi-cultural environment, with Asian Indian and western cultures both major influences in her life, and was educated at Wolverhampton Girls' High School
Wolverhampton Girls' High School
Wolverhampton Girls' High School is a selective, single-sex school for girls at Wolverhampton in the West Midlands of England.-Overview:Wolverhampton Girls' High School, founded in 1911, educates girls from the age of 11 to 18. Its students are led by a headmistress along with a Board of Governors....
and Birmingham University, where she graduated in English in 1980.
Career
Award winning children's author Narinder Dhami started working as a teacher, and for the next nine years she taught in primary and secondary schools in EssexEssex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
and in the London borough of Waltham Forest. During this time, she began writing stories for teenage magazines, and contributed many photo-stories to the now-defunct Jackie
Jackie (magazine)
Jackie was a weekly British magazine for girls. The magazine was published by D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd of Dundee from 11 January 1964 until its closure on 3 July 1993—a total of 1534 issues....
magazine, published by DC Thomson.
Eventually, Narinder gave up teaching for a full-time writing job. For the last few years, she has been writing contemporary realistic fiction about children growing up in Britain. Her Babes quartet about three British Asian girls is extremely popular with girls between 9 and 14 years of age. She writes a wide range of children's books for pre-teens on other subjects and now increasingly for older teens too. Her characters reflect the British urban ethnic mix but the books discuss racism only when relevant as Narinder believes most younger children want to have fun when they read rather than be subjected to adult agendas.
Books for 2009 included a teen thriller 'Bang, Bang You're Dead!' May 2009, which won or was shortlisted for large number of book awards in 2010, and the first book in a series of six for 9+ readers called 'The Beautiful Game' about girls' football. A further 4 books in the series were published in 2010 and the last of the six appeared in Jan 2011.
Narinder Dhami is one of the two remaining authors of the internationally successful Rainbow Magic
Rainbow Magic
Rainbow Magic is a children's fiction brand owned by Hit Entertainment and best known for the children's books published by Orchard Books. The books are ghostwritten by a number of authors under the collective pseudonym Daisy Meadows and illustrated by Georgie Ripper...
series, written under the name of Daisy Meadows
Daisy Meadows
Daisy Meadows is a pseudonym for the various writers of the Rainbow Magic books for younger children, which star fairies, such as: The Rainbow Fairies, Weather, Party, Pet, Jewels, Fun Day, Petal, Dancing, Sporty, Music, Magical Animal, Green, Ocean, Twilight, Show Time, Princess, Pop Star, Video...
. Her most famous and biggest selling book was 'Bend it Like Beckham', a novelisation of the film.
She now lives in Shropshire
Shropshire
Shropshire is a county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. It borders Wales to the west...
with her husband and her cats.
External links
- NarinderDhami.com - official website