Kristina Stephenson
Young Open 2020 Judge
Kristina Stephenson trained as a set and costume designer at the Central School of Art and Design. She worked in the theatre for many years, from the National Theatre to the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh, before moving into television where she specialised in designing and producing pre-school children’s programmes for BBC and ITV. She founded ‘Practically Perfect Pictures’, an independent production company which produced a 13-part storytelling series for Channel 4.
She turned her hand to illustrating after the birth of her first child, working for publishers both here and in the USA. She wrote and illustrated the best-selling picture book series ‘Sir Charlie Stinky Socks’ which is based on her son, Charlie, who does not have stinky Socks.
She is currently published by Egmont, Hachette and Puffin and continues to run ‘Practically Perfect Pictures’ which now devices and creates touring interactive theatrical events based on children’s picture books and audio books.