Babette Cole was born in Jersey in the Channel Islands on September 10, 1950. She received a first-class degree and a distinction in animation from Canterbury College of Art in 1973. She got a job in children's television, working on programs including Bagpuss and Jackanory. She also designed greetings cards and illustrated stories by authors such as Joan Tate and Annabel Farjeon.
Her first picture book, Basil Brush of the Yard, was published in 1977. She wrote and illustrated more than 150 children's books including Nungu and the Hippopotamus, Doctor Dog, Mummy Laid an Egg, The Smelly Book, Beware of the Vet, Two of Everything, Hair in Funny Places, and The Trouble with series. Princess Smartypants and Prince Cinders both won the Kate Greenaway medal. She died after a short illness that led to a collapsed lung on January 15, 2017 at the age of 66.
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