Richard Monte

Richard Monte was born in Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey and went to school in Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire. He studied History at the University of London, specialising in Eastern Europe. His first job was in journalism, but realising he wanted to be an author, he left to take up freelance writing and bookselling. He lives in St Albans, Hertfordshire, with his Polish wife and two young children.

He is a regular reviewer for Carousel Magazine and has also contributed book reviews to the TES and Scholastic Education Plus. Other articles on aspects of Polish culture can be found in History Today and the BBC History Magazine.

His first children's book was The Flood Tales, an environmental fable based on the Noah's Ark Story. Much of his recent work has been inspired by the history and culture of Poland, his wife's native country. The Dragon of Krakow, a collection of Polish folk tales was published by Frances Lincoln in 2008 and The Mermaid of Warsaw followed in 2011. He has travelled all over Poland to the three major cities, Warsaw, Krakow and Gdansk, and stayed on the Baltic Coast and in the Tatra Mountains. Poland continues to have a great influence on his work and he is planning further books for children which explore this fascinating country.