Philip Pullman is one of the best known children's writers in the world today. He is the acclaimed author of novels, short stories and plays for readers of all ages. He has received many accolades and awards for his books for children. The first volume of the His Dark Materials Trilogy, Northern Lights, won the 1996 Carnegie Medal, the Guardian Children's Fiction Award and the British Book Award. The final part of the Trilogy The Amber Spyglass won both the Whitbread Children's Book of the Year and the main Whitbread Book of the Year awards in 2001. The Firework-Maker's Daughter won the 1996 Smarties Gold Award. Clockwork was shortlisted for the Whitbread Children's Book of the Year 1997, and for the Carnegie Medal. He lives in Oxford.