Isabel Thomas

“Kate is warm, funny and passionate about such a diverse range of genres.”

After studying Human Sciences at the University of Oxford and training as a journalist, science writing proved to be the perfect fit for Isabel. Since 2010 she has written more than 150 science-related books for children and teenagers, as well as outreach resources for organisations such as the Wellcome Trust, inspiring children from diverse backgrounds to pursue science careers. Isabel also writes for children’s science magazines Whizz Pop Bang and The Week Junior Science + Nature.

Isabel’s books have been published internationally in more than 20 languages and won the AAS/Subaru Prize for Excellence in Science Books - twice! - as well as shortlisted for the English 4–11 Picture Book Awards, the Royal Society Young People’s Book Prize, the ASE Book of the Year Awards and the Blue Peter Book Awards. The Bedtime Book of Impossible Questions was shortlisted in the STEM category of the inaugural The Week Junior Book Awards.

As a prominent science writer for young audiences Isabel regularly speaks at festivals, schools and on radio discussion programmes including the Cheltenham Science Festival, Bournville BookFest, the Oxford Literary Festival, Paris Book Fair, Wimpole History Festival and BBC Radio 4’s ‘Women’s Hour’.

Isabel lives in Cambridge with her husband and three young sons. In her spare time, she is a primary school governor and STEM Ambassador.

ISABEL’S BOOKS

Isabel Thomas has written more than 150 books for children, some of which are: The Bedtime Book of Impossible Questions, Bloomsbury, 2022; Full of Life, Phaidon, 2022; 30 Trillion Cells, Welbeck, 2022; The Invisible World of Germs, OUP, 2022; Scientists: Inspiring Tales of the World’s Brightest Scientific Minds, DK, 2021; One Million Insects, Welbeck, 2021; Snug Bugs & Sleeping Lions, Wren & Rook, 2021; Exploring the Elements, Phaidon, 2020; Fox: A Circle of Life Story, Bloomsbury, 2020; This Book Will (Help) Cool The Planet, Wren & Rook, 2020; An Adventurer’s Guide to Outer Space, Puffin, 2020; Hello Design, Puffin, 2020; This Book Is Not Rubbish, Wren & Rook, 2018; Moth: An Evolution Story, Bloomsbury, 2018; Self-Destructing Science (series) Bloomsbury, 2012, 2017, 2018; Little Guides to Great Lives (series) Laurence King, 2018, 2019; How To Change the World, Oxford University Press, 2015.

REVIEWERS

“Top-notch nonfiction from a profoundly accomplished author.”

The Guardian

“Scientific and poetic, full of thrill and peril.”

Times Literary Supplement

“Absolutely stunning.”

Kirkus

Latest Book

THE WRITER WHO MOST INSPIRED ISABEL

I loved Andrea Ashworth’s memoir Once in a House on Fire and wish I had found it years earlier.

HOW ISABEL BECAME KATE’S CLIENT

Once I had more than a hundred books to my name, I realised that the services of an agent could help me focus more time on what I really love – writing and speaking engagements. But I wavered for several years, and after meetings with other agents, because it always felt so difficult to invite another person into an established career. When I met Kate, those worries finally disappeared. She is warm, funny and passionate about such a diverse range of genres. Most importantly, I felt I would be proud to have her represent me.

KATE ON ISABEL

Isabel’s factual writing for children is breath-taking, beautiful and original and the sheer range of topics she can master is astonishing. Her knowledge, creativity and passion for science, biography and natural history are highly infectious. And on a personal level, we really click, which makes representing Isabel a complete and utter pleasure. I’m so proud she chose me to be her agent.