Saviour Pirotta
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Saviour Pirotta (who also writes under the name Sam Godwin) has written more than sixty fiction and nonfiction books for children, and his works have been translated into ten languages. Born in Malta, he has a special interest in myths and traditional legends from around the world (his forthcoming titles include Multicultural Stories: Stories From Native North America; Multicultural Stories: Stories From China; Multicultural Stories: Stories From India, all published June 2006 by Hodder Stoughton)Saviour was born on the small Mediterranean island of Malta. His parents, both devoutly religious, named Saviour after Jesus. Biblical names and professions ran in the family; his brother is called Joseph, he has two aunt Marys’ and his father was a carpenter. With such a background it may be a surprise that, as a child, Saviour preferred pirate and ghost stories to biblical ones. His granny fuelled his fascination with the pirate lore of the Maltese islands and Saviour never tired of listening to popular pirate legends. He particularly liked the gruesome ones!
Sadly, at Saviour’s junior school, there was no library, just a locked bookcase outside the head teacher’s office. So, instead of reading stories, Saviour listened to them instead. He would sit outside on a summer’s evening and hear stories from people in his village. When Saviour arrived at his secondary school he was delighted to find a brilliant library and he was soon hooked on books for the rest of his life. Five years later, Saviour knew he was going to be a writer!
In 1982 he moved to England to pursue his ambition. His first job was adapting and directing a play based on Maltese pirate folklore. After this he spent eight years working as a storyteller for the Commonwealth Institute, visiting schools and libraries around Britain. Saviour’s first book was published just four years after he embarked upon his dream of becoming a writer and since then he has written over sixty books, many of them best-sellers. Turtle Bay and Joy to the World, both Frances Lincoln titles, have won numerous awards and Saviour’s work has been translated into fifteen languages. Saviour also writes under the name Sam Godwin, creating fun science books for five to seven year olds. A Seed in Need was awarded the English Association’s Best Non-Fiction Picture Book award.
Saviour has written several non-fiction books for Franklin Watts and for Orchard Books he has written The Orchard Book of Greek Myths and < from Tales Fairy Other and Princess Sleeping>. The first of these titles is a perfect introduction to Greek Myths, illustrated with bright friendly pictures by Jan Lewis. Ten of the best-loved Greek legends are retold with warmth and humour to make them easily accessible for young children. The Orchard Book of Greek Myths takes the reader into a magical world of beautiful princesses, handsome princes and wicked witches. This collection contains ten favourite fairy tales from the brothers Grimm, exquisitely illustrated by Emma Chichester Clark.
