Tony Mitton is a popular children's poet. Alongside being an author in his own right, he worked closely with Dick Bruna's Dutch publisher to create all-new translations for the classic Miffy stories.
Meet Tony Mitton
Tony Mitton was born in 1951 in Tripoli, North Africa. He spent a lot of time here, as well as in Germany, and Hong Kong as his father was in the British Army. However, from age 11-18, I was at a boarding grammar school in Suffolk, UK. From here, he went on to study English Literature at Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge, then pursued a PGCE at Dept of Education, University of Cambridge. As a result, Tony went on to be a primary school teacher, then Special Needs Support Teacher.
Despite being a trained teacher, he continued to pursue hobbies of writing and poetry. 1997 saw Tony win the Nottinghamshire Libraries/Dillons Children’s Book Award for Royal Raps, and a few years later, his The Red and White Spotted Handkerchief was the winner of the 2000 Smarties Prize. It was then in 1998 that he wrote Plum, his very first book. He has written a number of picture books including Bumpus Jumpus Dinosaurumpus and Down By the Cool of the Pool. Since then, he's had many, many more published works, and won many awards including the 2014 CLPE Poetry Award.
Tony Mitton Teams Up With Dick Bruna
The award-winning UK poet teamed up with the publishers of Miffy. Tony was key to bringing a more contemporary feel to the language, whilst remaining true to the books' original voice, Mitton's translations keep the books appealing to a modern young audience. Miffy has been around for over sixty years now, but you wouldn't think it! She's still the sweet baby bunny we remember from our own childhoods, and now she is here to be a part of the next generation of little ones, too.
The Miffy book series has sold over 85 million copies worldwide, and here at the official Miffy shop, you can explore some classics.
